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First of All with Victor Blackwell

Dept. Of Defense Lacks Military Precision In Website Purge Of DEI; Former Air Force Chief: DEI Purge Will Weaken Our Military; "Racism", "History," "Values" Among Keywords Targeted in Pentagon's DEI Website Purge; Judge Skeptical Of Trump's Use Of Wartime Law; Homeland Security Makes Cuts To Offices Overseeing Civil Rights Protections; Rachel Zegler Faces Racist Trolling After Casting Snow White. Aired 8-9a ET

Aired March 22, 2025 - 08:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Well, first of all, when something is done with military precision, the connotation is that it's done well and accurately. But right now, the Pentagon is trying to explain how they misfired so badly while trying to scrub DEI from the Defense Department website. Just this week, web pages highlighting Native American Heritage Month and Native American veterans were taken down. Well, that includes the Navajo code talkers credited with helping the U.S. Win World War II.

Ira Hayes, a Native American seen in that iconic flag raising photo from the battle of Iwo Jima. An article on the 442nd Regiment, an Army unit of Japanese-Americans that fought in World War II. Also caught up in the purge. The removal, and that even sparked coverage over on ESPN, was the scrubbing of a story on Jackie Robinson's military service.

The letters DEI were then added on the web URL at one point. The Pentagon had to release a statement to ESPN confirming that this is the quote. "Everyone at the Defense Department loves Jackie Robinson, as well as the Navajo code talkers, the Tuskegee Airmen, the Marines at Iwo Jima, and so many others." We're so glad to hear it. But the question is, who benefits from this? Who in the military is doing this?

My CNN colleagues reporting from the Pentagon found out that it all goes back to a memo issued by the Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth last. It ordered all diversity, equity and inclusion related content to be removed from the Pentagon websites. Turned out the order was so vague that the military units had to just use keywords in a computer program to find articles and images to scrub. I'm going to read out some of the words here.

First, you find the word first, you're taking it down. Racism, ethnicity, history, historic, LGBTQ, accessibility, opportunity, belonging, justice is a key word that gets things flagged to be pulled down. Privilege, gender-based violence, cultural observances, cultural awareness, African ethnicity, Asian ethnicity, Caucasian ethnicity, Hispanic ethnicity, respect, values, buzzwords. Red flags at the Defense Department.

The Department manages more than a thousand public-facing websites. It also maintains a huge visual media database. But the Pentagon gave itself just two weeks to carry out that purge, and it seems acknowledged now that this was not executed with that military precision.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEAN PARNELL, CHIEF PENTAGON SPOKESMAN: Without question, this task was an arduous but incredibly important undertaking. We enforced an aggressive timeline for our DoD services and agencies to comb through a vast array of content while ensuring that our force remains ready and lethal. Every now and then, because of the realities of AI tools and other software, some important content was incorrectly pulled offline to be reviewed.

We want to be very clear. History is not DEI. When content is either mistakenly removed or if it's maliciously removed, we continue to work quickly to restore it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: Maliciously removed? What does that mean? Listen, it might be tempting to just kind of laugh off how absurd this all seems, but my next guest warns that this anti-DEI crusade will weaken the U.S. Military. He writes, "As the former Secretary of the Air Force, I can state with certainty to the white males running this administration that sexism and racism in the military and in the nation do still exist. Banning conversations about these problems is going to make them worse, not better. Pretending these problems don't exist will drive talent away from the military and lower readiness."

[08:05:05]

Frank Kendall was Secretary of the Air Force during all of the Biden administration, and he joins me now. Secretary Kendall, thank you for being with me. Secretary Hegseth says that DEI is a distraction and it's divisive.

From the secretary's memo. "The DoD will strive to provide merit based, colorblind equal opportunities to service members, but will not guarantee or strive for equal outcomes." I'm sure there are plenty of people who look at this sentence on the screen from Hegseth and say, sounds good. What's wrong with the framework from your perspective?

FRANK KENDALL, SECRETARY OF THE AIR FORCE UNDER PRESIDENT BIDEN: I actually don't see much wrong with the way that's stated, but they're going way beyond that. You talked about some of the purges of records and so on. I think the impression this administration seems to have is that there was a lot of people were promoted to jobs they weren't qualified for because of DEI considerations. That's just false. That's not true. We did have disparities in the service. I saw them. We had good data

on this and were trying to address those. Disparities in things like criminal justice, for example. We never change our policies to be inequitable. We were trying to achieve results which we thought reflected the people that we had more fairly.

One of the major differences is that representation in the officer corps in general, is about half what it is in the enlisted corps. So were trying to change that to bring more diversity into the office corps, officer corps, but weren't doing it in a way which ever promoted anybody unfairly or without people meeting their actual qualifications.

This purge that's going on is far too broad, it's far too general, and it's preventing conversations that we actually need to be having within the military.

BLACKWELL: Let's pull a couple of those threads, and I want to start with the diversity in the Air Force officer corps. A memo that you signed this is August of 2022. It's something we can probably guarantee we won't see under Pete Hegseth or in the Trump- administration where it lays out the applicant pool goals broken down by race, ethnicity, gender. You wanted 24.5 percent of the applicants to be white women, four and a half percent applicants to be black women, six and a half percent Asian men. But you clarify, these goals will not be used in any manner that undermines our merit-based processes.

But I wonder when you show this chart of your goals to someone who is not ideologically hardened on this, but is being told by the administration that's a quota system and that disadvantages white men specifically. What is your argument to them?

KENDALL: What the intent of that guidance was to ensure that as we looked at a range of applicants for our officers, for various ROTC and the academies that we bring into that pool people who might not have been represented there at one time. You have to do that as a conscious matter, or you're going to go to the traditional sources you have, and you're going to have a skewed applicant pool which doesn't include as many people from those other groups. That's what we're trying to accomplish. Again, the standards stayed the same, but we were trying to bring the officer corps up to at least have the possibility of being more representative, both of the enlisted force and of the nation. That was what we were trying to do, and that was all we were trying to do.

BLACKWELL: I listed off these key words and how some of these images are being pulled down and then restored. Whether they're restored or not, is there some consequence? Is there some residual impact on how this is being executed by the Department Defense?

KENDALL: I think, in general, people right now are trying to keep their heads down and stay out of trouble, and they're not sure what will get them into trouble. So they're not doing things. They're not having conversations that we really ought to be having. I made a point in the article I wrote that, you know, among some of these groups, those conversations will still occur, but they're not going to include white males.

I think that's really a negative impact on the military. We still have a military that's dominated primarily by white males, just on numbers. And those people need to understand all the people that are working for them and serving with them, and they can better and more effective leaders if they do that.

That means have conversations about tough issues and understand that the people working for you or with you may not have had the same life experience that you did and have been shaped by very different experiences than you were. And that gives you empathy and makes you a better leader. And it's a positive thing to do. And right now, that's all being discouraged.

BLACKWELL: I think that's an important point, is that the conversations about racism and sexism will still happen even if you ban certain keywords or the conversations. It just won't include, as you say, white males. Does this impact recruitment as well, what we're seeing from the administration?

[08:10:08]

KENDALL: I think it will. It's a little early to see that now. We had addressed our recruitment shortfalls very successfully. The Air Force and Space Force that I was responsible for made all their numbers and did better than that last year. And we're on a trajectory going into this year to be in pretty good shape. We'll see how the next few months plays out, whether there is some impact on that.

And one thing you may see is that some of the disparities and the way the military doesn't reflect the population in general may become more so as a result of this. We'll see what happens.

BLACKWELL: All right. Former Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall. Thank you so much for your time, sir.

KENDALL: Thank you, Victor. Good to be with you.

BLACKWELL: And for your service. Education system also facing unprecedented pressure from the Trump administration. Columbia University relenting to presidential demands. Also, an order weakening the Department of Education. A former leader of the department's civil rights office joins us to react to it all next.

Plus, hours after a judge called out President Trump for signing a proclamation to deport migrants to El Salvador in the dark, President Trump says, "I don't know nothing about it. I didn't sign it." Who he's throwing under the bus instead.

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[08:16:00]

BLACKWELL: Columbia University is making a big concession to President Trump and their standoff over the school's response to campus protests. The administration recently revoked $400 million in federal funding and they demanded the university make some changes. On the list, a ban on masks, a plan to rein in protests in student groups, and a review of its Middle East studies program. The school has now announced new restrictions on demonstrations and a review of its Middle East curriculum. President Trump has been threatening to cut federal money to other colleges accused of tolerating anti-Semitism.

This week, President Trump made a show of fulfilling one of his campaign promises. Surrounded by school-age children at the little desks, he signed an executive order that he says will shut down the Department of Education.

The order doesn't say how to do that or when, mostly because it can't. Just as a president's signature on an executive order cannot create a department, it cannot end one. Only an act of Congress can create a department.

The first Education department was created when Andrew Johnson signed legislation in 1867. It was soon demoted to an office over concerns of how much control it would have over local schools. But the current iteration was created by the Department of Education Organization Act that was signed by President Jimmy Carter in 1979. In the decades leading up to that, federal spending on education expanded for political and social reasons. The space race led to more money for science education. The war on poverty led to more money to educate poor students.

Funding expanded in order to help minorities, and women, people with disabilities, non-English speaking students, gain equal access to education. Strengthening the federal commitment to ensuring equal education opportunity for everyone was the first purpose Congress listed when it created the department.

Now, conservatives have long opposed the department that called for elimination or reform of federal education. Opponents of the president's order say that taking apart the Education Department will harm children and interfere with learning. Education Secretary Linda McMahon, President Trump both say oversight of education should be returned to the states and to parents.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DONALD TRUMP, USA PRESIDENT: We're going to be returning education very simply back to the states where it belongs.

LINDA MCMAHON, EDUCATION SECRETARY: Governors would always like to see funding without any strings attached, but that is the goal of the president, too, is to have as few strings in regulation as possible. He wants to improve education for children. He wants to get those dollars, even more dollars, back to the states without the bureaucracy of Washington. So that's our plan. That's our goal.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: Catherine E. Lhamon is with us now. Up until President Trump took office, she was the Assistant Secretary of Education for Civil Rights at the Department of Education. Thank you for being with me this morning.

I want to take the president's framing of this first and returning it to the states. It sounds great. From your perspective, what does this actually do?

CATHERINE E. LHAMON, FORMER ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF EDUCATION FOR CIVIL RIGHTS: Well, I want to say two things. First, we are demonstrably not returning education to the states under this administration. This administration has been more directive about what is taught in schools and how than any administration in the history of the United States. So it is just demonstrably false to claim that the administration is trying to return education to the schools. It's actually trying to tell schools what they can teach in our K12 classrooms and in our colleges and universities in a way that is completely unlawful. There are already restrictions against it.

And then, separately, when the president or the secretary of education promises to return funding to the states without strings, that is terrifying. We don't have to wonder how bad that will be in this country. We have a history that tells us in our recent past, and we have a history that tells us some decades ago.

[08:20:03]

What we know from the massive resistance to school integration in Southern states is that they defied court orders to integrate their schools. It took a federal Department of Education to be a backstop against that harm, to make sure that we actually saw integrated classes in schools for the first time. So, when this country got serious about having a United States Department of Education that would stop that harm, we started to see meaningful progress in schools.

Separate from that, I was enforcing federal civil rights laws until January 20th. What I saw in this school year was a resolution agreement with the school district where black kids have been saying that they were experiencing serious harassment in school. And their district's response in this school was to issue a press release saying that the kids who had perpetrated that harm hadn't known what they were doing. That was, again, demonstrably untrue. That was, again inconsistent with our federal civil rights laws. But if we return those options to the states, we will see inconsistent results, and we will see some kids experiencing discrimination without the promised consistent response from the federal government that Congress has long guaranteed now for six decades.

BLACKWELL: And so without that backstop, without that enforcement from the office you used to lead, what then happens to these students? If there are disabled students in, I'm not going to name a specific state, but a state they believe that they are not getting the education that they are guaranteed. Where do they take that complaint?

LHAMON: Well, they take it to the state, and the state doesn't respond. And here's again an example of how we know that's harmful. I will name a state. The state of Texas several years ago had a cap on the number of students with disabilities that could be served. And once that cap was reached, no more students with disabilities.

Even when the districts knew that the students had disabilities, deserved supports, they did not provide them because they had met the cap, and those kids did not get served. That's millions of children who did not have the equal opportunity to education that our laws promise and that our kids deserve. We know that can happen. We have seen that happen. We cannot leave that option up to the vagaries of the willingness of a state to do right.

BLACKWELL: Let's listen to the president again here.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TRUMP: After 45 years, the United States spends more money on education by far than any other country and spends likewise by far more money per pupil than any country. And it's not even close. But yet we rank near the bottom of the list in terms of success.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: Okay, well, first let's say that neither of those are true. A survey of highly developed nations found that U.S. was 28th out of 37th in math, 12th out of 37 in science. And the U.S. does not spend the most money per pupil. But 45 years since the Department of Education was created, give or take, there are people who are wondering or concerned about outcomes, who are concerned about all this investment and this federal role. They don't believe many of them it's paying off. What do you tell them?

LHAMON: Well, first, I'm concerned about outcomes. We all need to be concerned about outcomes. I have two kids in school. I want the best for my kids. I want the best for every kid in this country. We all should be worried about that.

But number one, we know that money matters. Number two, we know that how it's spent matters. And what the federal U.S. Department of Education does is research on what works. There's literally a what works database at the U.S. Department of Education that shares information with school communities about best practices, the right and effective ways to improve student learning.

We are coming out of a pandemic where globally and nationwide we saw real harm to kids' learning and to kids ability to recover. The dollars that we have recently spent in schools, provide for tutoring for kids after school, to bring them up, provide for additional teachers to support student learning in school. Those dollars are critical to education.

When we walk away from federal spending, when we walk away from accountability in schools about how those dollars are spent, we walk away from student learning. We walk away from student opportunity. And let's be concrete about it. There are multiple states in this country where federal spending accounts for more than 20 percent of the education spending in that state. In Mississippi, in Alaska, in South Dakota, which are some of the states where that's true. Did they not need that money? Do they not need to make sure that their kids are fully served and effectively served and have equal opportunity in school? I can't imagine that we would want to walk away from that.

BLACKWELL: Catherine E. Lhamon, thank you so much for your time this morning.

LHAMON: Thank you. Thanks for having me.

BLACKWELL: Legal fights are ramping up as President Trump carries out more high profound detentions and deportations. Well get perspective on what it's like for immigrants in this moment from an award-winning journalist who made headlines when he revealed his undocumented status, next.

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[08:29:29]

BLACKWELL: Maybe it's a sign that a policy isn't going well. If President Trump is deferring credit on an issue he always tries to take credit for. Hours after a tense court hearing for his administration, he's handing off responsibility for a big immigration decision.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TRUMP: I don't know when it was signed because I didn't sign it. Other people handled it. But Marco Rubio has done a great job, and he wanted him out. And we go along with that.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: Well, he's referring to the Alien Enemies Act of 1789, which he did, in fact, invoke via proclamation that he did actually sign to deport migrants to El Salvador. The judge in that tense hearing Friday called the implication of its use frightening. And this is what is happening while we see other high profile deportations play out. And then there is the timing of the announcement.

The Department of Homeland Security says it's reducing the staff of three offices dedicated to oversight within the department. Here to share his perspective is Pulitzer Prize winning journalist who made headlines in 2011 when he revealed his undocumented status kept hidden after arriving in the U.S. in the 90s.

Jose Antonio Vargas went on to write the memoir "Dear America: Notes of an Undocumented Citizen." He's the founder of Define American.

Jose, thank you for being with me. I, I want to get your reaction to a couple of things and then we'll get into a deeper conversation. First, this assertion from the president in the Oval Office.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President, do you think you have the authority, the power to round up people, deport them and then you're under no obligation court to show the evidence against them?

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: Well, that's what the law says and that's what our country needs.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: He says that also there should be no judicial oversight of that power. What do you say?

JOSE ANTONIO VARGAS, FOUNDER, "DEFINE AMERICAN": I am a proud product of California's public schools. And one of the things I learned, I think it was in middle school, if it was in 8th grade or 7th grade, is due process, that every single person in this country is entitled illegal to the principals, the fundamental legal principle of due process.

And I think what's happening here is the inhumanity in which this administration and this president, and mind you, this is his second time at the White House that has constantly been flattened when it comes to the undocumented population, has gotten to this point where we don't see immigrants regardless by the way of immigration status. Right. We don't see them as people. We don't see them as human. So therefore we can just do anything we want to do with undocumented people and with immigrants without any care to due process.

BLACKWELL: What's your reaction to, as I mentioned a couple of minutes ago, the Department of Homeland Security cut the staff of these Civil Rights and Oversights offices, the division that investigates complaints about violations potentially to civil rights of immigrants, complaints about detention facilities, a spokesman called them roadblocks and bureaucratic hurdles that undermine mind the DHS mission.

VARGAS: You know what I keep thinking about? Given that we are a country, unless you're Native American, indigenous to this country, or a Native American who was brought here against your will, you're an immigrant from somewhere. And your legality, such as it is dependent on what laws were in place when you came to this country.

So when I think about what's happening right now, the chaos, the kind of the moral, this lack of morality when it comes to this issue, I think about all those immigrants that came through Ellis Island, I think about all those Italians and Germans and Irish and Dutch people and how they were treated and how we compare how those immigrants coming from Europe are being compared with immigrants who are coming mostly from Latin America, mostly from Asia, and mostly from the Caribbean and Africa.

Although we've seen, by the way, some German nationals, some Canadian. There was that actress from Canada who was arrested and, you know, experience horrible situation being detained. So what is happening here right now, this country, our country, right, with our taxes, as an undocumented person, I had paid, you know, thousands of dollars into the IRS, right? We are spending right now, estimated to spend $88 billion a year to arrest and detain immigrants in this country. $88 billion a year.

BLACKWELL: Well, Jose, let me flip it and look at from a different perspective. The president was clear about his plan for mass deportation. When he ran voters, according to our exit polls, chose him nine points over Vice President Harris to handle immigration. Poll after poll shows that Americans support the concept of mass deportation.

So while you suggest that it is the administration that is executing this, is he not working on behalf of those voters who said in the election and in polls that's what they want?

VARGAS: Well, thank you for bringing that up because I think what you have just penetrated is that when it comes to this issue, immigration, illegal immigration reform, undocumented people, the American public at large do not know the facts of this issue. They do not know that undocumented people in this country commit far less crimes than native born citizens.

[08:35:00]

They do not know that undocumented immigrants in this country pay hundreds of thousands, hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes and contribute to Social Security, right, because of the ignorance, the blatant ignorance. And what is that great quote from James Baldwin? Right. Ignorance allied with power is the greatest enemy of justice in this country. And when it comes to immigrants, that's exactly what we're living through.

BLACKWELL: Listen, there were a couple of people over the last couple of days that made me think of you this week. Jeanette Vizquera, undocumented immigrant right activist who lived in that church in Denver for several years. She was on breaker to job at Target in Colorado, was taken into custody.

I understand now that you have an O visa.

VARGAS: Yes.

BLACKWELL: But as we saw with Mahmoud Khalil, that status can be revoked. Are you concerned as an activist that you could be deported, that you could be removed from this country and this administration?

VARGAS: Well, first of all, let me just say that thank you for bringing up Jeanette. I actually visited her when she took sanctuary at that church in Denver in 2017. I met her. We communicated on Facebook. I met her kids, by the way, three of her four children are U.S. born citizens.

It's horrendous what's happening. What's been fascinating and what's been gratifying is seeing her whole community of people in Denver, in Colorado, the governor, Michael Bennett, the senator, the mayor, everybody saying she is one of us, she's an American, basically without papers. What are we doing? Right?

So thank you for bringing her up. And yes, I was able to after 31 years of trying to find a way to legalize my status, I was able to get this nonimmigrant work visa, this O1, right. It's valid for two years. So I don't know what's going to happen. I'm going to keep applying for it. Now you have just said right now in this country, people with green

cards, people with valid legal rights to be here, all of those are being taken away. Now because of that, I of course, had to sit my family down, my very extensive Filipino American family. I have looked, what, 36 relatives here, U.S. born citizens, legal, permanent residents. I'm the only one about 36 people who's undocumented, right? That's what's called.

So I've got people down. I've explained to them, I've talked to my friends. So I'm ready. I'm ready for whatever that will be. But here's the reality, though, OK? Here's the reality. I am a product of America. This is where I was educated. This is where I have made a life out of myself. And the reality is my being American cannot be detained and deported. That is intrinsic within me.

BLACKWELL: Jose Antonio Vargas, you were the person I wanted to have this conversation with as things rolled throughout the week, and I appreciate you making time and coming on. Thank you.

VARGAS: Thank you very much for having me.

BLACKWELL: All right. Disney's latest remake, not always a fairy tale in the making, Snow White is sparking debate on diversity and identity as its lead actress faces racist trolls. A writer who interviewed Rachel Zegler about a role in the film out this weekend joins us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:43:00]

BLACKWELL: Disney's live action adaptation of "Snow White" is in theaters this weekend, but not entirely with the fanfare they hoped people have. Let's call them thoughts about the fresh take on Disney's first animated movie, originally out in 1937, specifically about snow White herself, Rachel Zegler.

Zegler is of Colombian descent, cast as the original Disney princess who the brothers grim in their 1812 fairy tale described as white as snow. Patricia Alfonso Tortellini interviewed Zegler for the COVID of Allure magazine, and she joins us now.

Good morning to you. I just want to make sure that we remember that these are fairy tales of magical kisses and fairy godmothers and poisoned apples. But it comes at a time when anything that is or can be put into the cast of diversity is vilified. What did you learn in this conversation with Rachel?

PATRICIA ALFONSO TORTOLANI, INTERVIEWED RACHEL ZEGLER FOR ALLURE: Well, thank you for having me on and actually thank you in your lead in, for reminding us all that this is a film based on an 1812 fairy tale. And I think when we look back at those words, you know, white as snow, thinking of the context when those words were written, it was really more a reference, it was less a reference to race than it was to nobility. So I just do think it's important to remember that.

But Rachel, this is the second time I've interviewed Rachel, and she is a wonderful actress. She is walking through this experience with such grace. And I think that if you go and see the film, which I did yesterday, there is no question as to why Rachel Zegler was cast in this role. Rachel Zegler is a phenomenal singer.

[08:45:03]

She's a phenomenal actress, and she really does bring such joy to the film. And. And really that's what I wanted the piece to focus on.

BLACKWELL: You know, when we saw this similar backlash against Halle Bailey, who was cast as Princess Ariel for the live action Little Mermaid, she leaned into what was an inspiration for young black and brown girls seeing her in that role. Is Rachel leaning into this as well?

TORTOLANI: Yes, I think I honestly think Rachel said it best in the article because I did ask her about DEI and what she said is that it is important that we invest in and nurture talent, no matter what they look like. And that really, I do believe is at the heart of this conversation.

And yes, her casting, and yes, Halle Bailey's casting does reflect a broader shift. You know, it does expand who gets to be seen in a princess role. But if you've been to Disney World or Disneyland, as I have many times, like, there are Disney princesses everywhere. Everyone should get to be a Disney princess.

BLACKWELL: You know, this is not the only controversy that's surrounding the movie. Gal Gadot, who Israeli, she served in the IDF, as most young Israelis do public support for Israel since the October 7th attack and the war with Hamas. It's also creating some controversy around the film. I wonder if some of the reviews and the Rotten Tomatoes scores, if they believe that these controversies are weighing on the potential success of it.

TORTOLANI: Certainly there's a lot of controversy around the film. And, you know, there are people who've said that they won't go see the film for various reasons. And I think, you know, when you are calling for a boycott of a film that is at its core about the triumph of good over evil and is about a character who embodies optimism and courage and kindness, I really, I do think it's worth looking in the mirror and asking yourself, you know, what you're so upset about.

And I think that, you know, Rachel, in our interview, she did speak about why this film is resonating now. And she said something that really stuck with me. You know, she said that. She said that Snow White exists in all of us. And I think that the idea that those, you know, those traits of optimism and courage and approaching with kindness are really important. It's an important message that is captured in this film.

BLACKWELL: Yes. Patricia Alfonso Tortolani. It's a great article. Go and read it. Thank you so much for being with me. And you can check out the feature on Rachel Zegler on Allure's website.

My favorite story is next. A debate over street names led to this moment at a County Commission meeting.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I did read the lyrics, so in this case, grind doesn't mean work, it means what we think it means.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:52:12]

BLACKWELL: There is one community in this country with street names like these. "Chase Dis Money Street," "Big Money Baller Street," "We the Best Terrrace, "No Pain, No Gain Street," "Still the Baddest Street." Yes, a neighborhood in the 305 really just approved representing Miami's music scene in their street signs. And for this week's Art is Life, I spoke with the local leader who made.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEON HARDEMAN, MIAMI-DADE COUNTY COMMISSIONER: I am Keon Hardeman. I live in Miami, Florida. I'm a Miami-Dade County Commissioner and Florida attorney. Liberty City is a community in Miami-Dade County much like most communities all over the nation. We have a great deal of people who care about the community who in some regards have been left behind and still want to play a part in what is the resurgence of the community.

But it needs some help. It needs some tourist attraction. When you go to 18th Avenue, what you quickly realize is that the people who frequent the avenue, they love music. The idea for the street namings on Broadway was something that I had been thinking about for many years now. I knew that I needed to do this. It was extremely difficult.

If you name these streets in this community in such a way, it would invite a lot of attention and attention we have gotten. The street games in many ways even tell a story.

You have "Welcome to MIA Terrace." Right. "Welcome to my House." We have "City Girl Street." People travel to Miami all the time on their birthdays. And so what is it to come to Miami and not have a picture taken by it's your birthday street.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The only one that worries me as a woman is "Grind With Me Terrace." I don't want to walk down any street where somebody can say that to me without my permission. I did read the lyrics. So in this case, grind doesn't mean work. It means what we think it means.

HARDEMAN: No, I really wanted Pretty Ricky to make the list. I think they did something special for Miami. And slow music.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: On the church street. There's a church there. You have the naming of that street.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "Vision Street." I'm being told. So you only see Jesus. Yes, right.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can't tell you that. I know all of them. What I can tell you is that I applaud the concept.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And sometimes when you have a community like ours, you need to have something that's dramatic and unusual to break through the ordinary.

[08:55:02]

HARDEMAN: The next step is to add the street sign and also encourage these individuals, those who are like Rick Ross who proclaimed to want to buy the block, to come and invest on 18,000.

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BLACKWELL: Commissioner Hardeman says this goes beyond just renaming street signs. He says that there is work being done right now to repave the roads and replace the damaged signs and bring in plants and trees and lights. He told me expects the project to wrap up in days by the end of April at the latest.

Now if you see something or someone I should see, tell me. I'm on Instagram, TikTok, X, Bluesky. You missed a conversation or story. Check out our website and you can listen to our show as a podcast. There's going to be a trick. Love to Kid Street. Come on now. Thanks for joining me today.

I'll see you back here next Saturday at 8:00 a.m. Eastern. Smerconish is up after the break.

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