Return to Transcripts main page

First of All with Victor Blackwell

Trump's New Promise On "Black Jobs"; Trump Makes New "Black Jobs" Pitch As Black Jobless Rate Stays High; No Black Jurors Chosen In Track Meet Stabbing Trial. Aired 8-9p ET

Aired June 06, 2026 - 08:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:00:28]

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Well, first of all, if you're looking for one of those black jobs, we final got an update on what President Trump has planned for you.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: We're doing very well with the black jobs. African American jobs we're doing. I saw some numbers that we're doing really well. But what we're really going to do well is when all these plants are open, you know, we're building many car plants.

We're bringing cars back from Germany. We're bringing, you know, we lost the car industry years ago. 54 percent Of the industry went to Germany, Japan, Canada, Mexico. It's all coming back.

It's amazing. And where your black worker is really going to do well is when those factories open. So, I think they're going to be great. We've been doing very well. It's been a big focus for me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: So that was in response to a question about why there is still a disparity in the black unemployment rate compared to the overall unemployment rate. We actually just got new data on that Friday. Nationwide, unemployment is holding steady at 4.3 percent. That's good.

The economy added 172,000 jobs last month. Good. Better than expected.

But the jobless rate is much higher for black workers, 6.6 percent overall. For both black men and black women, the number has decreased from what it was a month earlier. But still more black people are unemployed than Hispanic, Asian or white people.

Let's get a perspective from Dr. Darrick Hamilton. He's the founding director of the Institute on Race, Power and Political Economy at the New School. And he has been a policy advisor to members of Congress and presidential candidates, including Senator Bernie Sanders. Darrick, good to have you along. Let's start with the big number

first, though. 172,000 Jobs in May. Three consecutive months of 100,000 plus job growth. Good news.

But you told my producer that the headline numbers, the job numbers are stagnant. And focusing on specific metrics is a political smokescreen. Why is good news not all good?

DARRICK HAMILTON, PROFESSOR OF ECONOMICS AND URBAN POLICY, THE NEW SCHOO: Well, steady unemployment rates that are fairly low is good news. However, if we put it in a context of growing inflation and a context of wages not keeping up, we can see that real wages are down. And I'll give you another data point which we should really care about, which is the share of national income going to labor is at all time lows dating as far back as 1947 when we started collecting that information.

So to basically dissect that number of the production that we're generating with our economy, the share that's going to workers is at all-time lows, while the share going to employers in terms of profit are continuing to be at record highs.

BLACKWELL: Let me ask you about --

HAMILTON: That's not indicative of a well-functioning economy.

BLACKWELL: Let me ask you about the black unemployment rate dropped from 7.3 percent in April to 6.6 percent in May. Is that because there was some hiring spree of black workers? What's -- what does that number reflect?

HAMILTON: Well, you want to see stability with a downward trend. And we should never acquiesce to a paradigm where black unemployment still remains dramatically higher than the white rate. What we should be striving for is equality. And then, you know, let's make the point again that as we think about workers overall, it is still the case that black wages trail that of white workers.

So, we have overall the real wages trending down. And that's going to be even more pronounced for black workers.

BLACKWELL: So, the Bureau of Labor statistics shows that 78 percent of manufacturing workers in 2025 were white, 10.6 percent were Black. So, the promise of that good black factory job as the answer for black unemployment, explain this. And I can hear you laughing over the graphic. Is that an honest, realistic expectation?

HAMILTON: Well, we want to treat people with dignity and we want to use -- we should use precision. So, labeling something a black job is imprecise. There are black people that work in jobs and we can talk about manufacturing. So, let's give the President the benefit of the doubt and talk about manufacturing.

He ran on a campaign that he was going to bring manufacturing jobs back to America or he was going to increase manufacturing jobs overall. That is a sector of our economy that is declining and still declining. So, if we want to frame it as manufacturing jobs being good for the economy, we're not really seeing an uptick in manufacturing. A year and a half into his presidency.

[08:05:23]

BLACKWELL: Do you see a, you know, the president says he's focused on these factory jobs that will help black workers. Do you see a concerted effort from this administration on narrowing that disparity as it relates to the overall unemployment rate and black workers unemployment rate?

HAMILTON: I mean, in rhetoric in action, the president has weaponized race. If we look holistically throughout our economy, we look at, you know, some good news from this jobs report. Additional good news is that local government employment is rising. And these are important jobs that are providing quality service to the American people.

We've demonized government jobs, but we rely on them to a large extent. At the federal level, that is. There's a different story. Federal employment is trending down, has been trending down, and the president has intentionally trended those jobs down. That will not only impact workers, it will impact the quality of service.

And, you know, we're having a conversation, a segment about race. Federal employment and government jobs in general historically have been jobs in which we've seen the less -- lesser amounts of racial discrimination than other jobs. They often require standards. They often require -- and by standards, I mean criteria.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

HAMILTON: We talk about bureaucracy as if it's bad, but bureaucracy can be good in certain, certain situations because it avoids. It avoids discretion. And we have a history of using discretion in harmful ways directed at certain groups.

BLACKWELL: Dr. Hamilton, I, in preparation for our conversation, came across an interview you did with NPR. This was 2013, so quite a while ago, but you advocated for something that I found pretty interesting. It got me to sit up, and it's a federal job guarantee. Is that something you still support?

And how would that even work as an approach to the disparity in unemployment?

HAMILTON: We dug deep. But, yes, I still support a federal job guarantee more than ever. I mean, as we think about some of the existential crises that we're facing in terms of energy, in terms of greening of our economy, there's plenty of work that we need for our infrastructure that the private sector is not doing. So, there is productive work that needs to be done that's not being done by the private sector for which the federal government can step up.

But what's more is that it creates a power balance that will discipline the private sector. It won't do away with the private sector, but it will implicitly set floors where we are hiring workers in productive jobs and with quality wages, doing productive work that we need and providing alternatives for workers who engage with the private sector in such a way that they have to take low wages because they don't have a choice. In other words, we spend a lot of rhetoric talking about disciplining workers.

I trust the American workers. They show up for work and work hard generally, especially when they get decent wages. But perhaps we need competitive alternatives to ensure that if you want to hire an American worker, you have to hire them with decent wages, with dignity production, and then we'll have a flourishing economy.

BLACKWELL: Dr. Darrick Hamilton, I appreciate the conversation. Thank you.

An emotional and racially charged murder trial is happening in Texas. It'll be decided by a jury with no black members. Judge Glenda Hatchet is here to talk about how it may impact that final verdict.

Plus, Luther Campbell, Uncle Luke is here. He's -- there's a political fight that's between Democratic Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz and four black candidates happening. They want a black lawmaker to represent Florida's 20th district after redistricting and just had a unique meeting to strategize how to ensure that happens.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:14:33]

BLACKWELL: A controversial question this week. Is race really irrelevant in a trial where the victim and the suspect are of different races? Well, prosecutors in Texas think so.

Karmelo Anthony is on trial for fatally stabbing Austin Metcalf at a Track meet in 2025. Almost immediately some look to exploit the races of the teens to push a narrative and Metcalf's father condemned that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEFF METCALF, SON AUSTIN KILLED IN TRACK MEET STABBING: This was not a race thing and this is not a political thing. Please do not comment if you do not know what happened. This is a human being thing. This person made a bad choice and affected both his family and my family forever.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[08:15:05]

BLACKWELL: Fast forward to this week. A pool of nearly 600 potential jurors were narrowed down to 12 jurors and six alternates. But every qualified black juror was dismissed by the prosecution.

Let's get some perspective on the trial with Judge Glenda Hatchett. She's the host of "The Verdict with Judge Hatchett." Judge, thank you for coming back in.

JUDGE GLENDA HATCHETT, HOST, "THE VERDICT WITH JUDGE HATCHETT": Yes, good to be with you.

BLACKWELL: And so we were talking a bit in the break of the question of is this race neutral? And it being on the burden being on the defense here in kind of a mini trial as the prosecutors try to get rid of those last three jurors. Explain.

HATCHETT: So the U.S. Supreme Court, in a very famous decision, Batson some years ago, outlined the steps. Three steps, Victor. One, whoever is challenging these jurors being struck and being taken off of the jury has the burden to say, no, it's not based on race. So the prosecutors basically said, no, it didn't happen.

The defense attorneys first of all said, no, we want them on this jury. And because there are only three black women, we want them seated on this jury. The defense -- the prosecutors then come in and say, no, there are other reasons for not seating them because they were teachers. The judge third step ultimately has to decide whether they should be seated. And the judge said that there was a legitimate reason for them to be taken off of the jury.

So now you've got 18, you've got 12 members, six alternates, no black members of the jury. Will that be an issue on appeal? Probably. So step back. One step back. Because, you know, I do a deep dive on this.

BLACKWELL: I know you do.

HATCHETT: In this county, I looked at the demographics. There are roughly 10 to 11 percent black population. So out of that 589 members of that big pool to begin with, one of the questions later may be whether the pool was sufficiently representative and were black people excluded from that pool.

BLACKWELL: Yes. Let me just offer this for some context. A Duke University study surveyed hundreds of cases and found where there were no black jurors in a pool. Conviction rate for white defendants was 60 -- 66 percent. For black defendants with no juror, with no black jurors, 81 percent.

And when there was just one black juror, conviction rates were nearly identical. 73 percent for white -- for whites, and 71 percent for blacks.

Let me ask you about a question during voir dire, the questioning of these jurors from the defense attorney for Karmelo Anthony. He asked Mike Howard, asked the jurors, how do you feel about the country's immigration policies?

Some people refused to answer it. They said it wasn't relevant. Or what do you make of that question and what does it get to.

HATCHETT: I'm not sure. And I think that may have opened a door that he probably wishes now that he hadn't opened. I don't know that was great strategy for him to question them on that because at the end of that it opens the door, perhaps on appeal, that that was probably not a necessary question. Now, people refused to answer that. And because they refused to answer

that, they may have given the prosecution some idea whether there might be some bias in this case. But we aren't talking about a defendant who's an immigrant here. We're talking about a black student and a white student in a very unfortunate situation.

BLACKWELL: Let's talk about the situation and the central question of Karmelo Anthony went and sat under this tent of Austin Metcalf's team. And the coach says that's like going to sit on the basket, the opposing basketball team's bench during the game, right? You don't do that.

But Metcalf's coach says that Anthony -- Metcalf told Anthony that he needed to move.

HATCHETT: Right.

BLACKWELL: Karmelo Anthony reached into his bag and said, touch me and see what happens. Metcalf then escalated it. Grabbed Anthony. Anthony pulled out the knife and plunged into his chest and killed him.

The question of self-defense, how do you get to that considering those circumstances?

HATCHETT: Well, the problem is, and the bottom line is that you can't provoke the situation and then claim self-defense. And that's going to be the uphill struggle in this case. Obviously, the burden is on the prosecution to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that this in fact was first-degree, first-degree murder. But the problem is, yes.

I mean, kids come to track me. Kids go in and out of tents. I mean, I was a sports mom with my kids in high school. But when he was asked to leave, the question is, why didn't he just simply leave and did it require force that was deadly.

If Metcalf then does push him and the witnesses, because I've been tracking the testimony over the last two days, pushes him and pushes him and wants him to leave, does that justify him pulling out a knife and stabbing him and causing this fatal wound? And it's such a tragic case and you're thinking, what was he thinking? And why not just leave?

[08:20:10]

BLACKWELL: Yes. And the details that are coming out and what the jury has been seeing already in just the first few days really is tragic. Judge Glenda Hatchett, thank you so much for coming. I hope you understand.

HATCHETT: Absolutely. And also 17, he can be tried as adult. That's another question here.

BLACKWELL: Yes. Thank you for the analysis.

HATCHETT: Yes. BLACKWELL: Here's the next story. He's alive and in prison, convicted of murder. And yet Derek Chauvin was found to be worthy of a moment of silence by attendees of a Republican convention in Minnesota. The emotional response from George Floyd's girlfriend next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:25:10]

BLACKWELL: I've seen moments of silence for people who have died. I cannot remember a moment of silence for someone who is alive. Alive and in prison, convicted of a murder caught on camera.

But this week, we learned a moment of silence was held at a Minnesota Republican nominating convention for Derek Chauvin. Yes, that Derek Chauvin, the former officer convicted of murdering George Floyd. Excuse me. It was a moment of silent prayer, according to the convention chairman.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DANNY NADEAU, (R) CONVENTION CO-CHAIR AND MN STATE REPRESENTATIVE: The nomenclature is important. It wasn't a moment of silence. It was a moment of silent prayer. And that, I think is important.

I've never heard of anyone, you know, justifying the fact that, you know, that George Floyd was, was murdered. And I believe in our justice system, and I think our justice system, you know, worked in this case. A jury of peers, they weighed the evidence, they addressed the facts, and they brought an adjudication.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you wish someone had stepped up to at least push for clarity or to push back a little bit then?

NADEAU: I do. I do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Well, that's Minnesota State Representative Danny Nadeau. He tells CNN Affiliate Care that he tried to stop the moment from happening, but due to convention rules, he says he was limited in what he could do. After a delegate brought that motion forward, it was seconded and then supported by a voice vote. And the A's were apparently louder than the nays, so it went forward.

Excuses, they don't stop there. The state party posted on Facebook a moment of silent prayer should not be mischaracterized as an official policy, position, platform statement or message from the Republican Party of Minnesota. In it was a floor action taken by delegates, not leadership.

At the convention, GOP delegates nominated businessman and veteran Kendall Qualls to be their nominee. So, although he was not part of this vote, his voice carries weight. And here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) KENDAL QUALLS, (R) MINNESOTA GOV. CANDIATE: I would have honored all

law enforcement officers. Number one. They've been made to be scapegoats for the last eight to ten years. And I would have had a moment silence for officers that have fallen on duty.

There are -- there are some concerns that people have about the Chauvin case. I don't know if that was the best venue to do that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Well, for families of victims of police violence in Minnesota, none of that is enough. We heard from several of them this week, including George Floyd's girlfriend, Courtney Ross.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COURTENEY ROSS, WAS GEORGE FLOYD'S PARTNER: These are tears of outrage. These are tiers of being tired. These are tears of just pure disgust by what happened. So, I'm speaking to the few of you that thought it was wrong at the Republican convention, Please stand up. Hold the other Republicans that did this horrific act accountable.

You are public servants. You should take your job roll to the utmost severity. Hold them accountable for their cruel actions. You all know you did wrong. You know it's time to stand up now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: The timing of this adds to the Floyd family's pain. May 25th was the 6th anniversary of George Floyd's murder. So this moment of silent prayer happened just five days later from Minnesota Republican leaders. We're seeing a lot of blame shifting, a lot of, well, I wouldn't have done it or nothing we could do to stop it.

But no apology that I've seen publicly from anyone associated with this convention to the Floyd family. And it doesn't seem like one is coming.

All right, coming up. There are now four. But will there soon be just one black candidate to take on a white member of Congress seeking to represent a district that has historically had a black member of Congress?

There was a meeting this week to discuss that and Luther Campbell took part. He's here to tell us how it went. Next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:34:02]

BLACKWELL: So I don't remember a situation like this before. Four black Democratic candidates having a meeting to discuss uniting against a white Democrat. That's happening in Florida's 20th congressional district. It's long been represented by a black lawmaker, but because of redistricting, Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz has picked that district as the route for her to keep a seat in Congress.

Now here's where things get a little more messy. She seemed to suggest in an interview with CNN affiliate in Miami that she had the support of the Congressional Black Caucus.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. DEBBIE WASERMAN SCHULTZ (D-FL): No, none of them asked me not to run. What the leadership what Hakeem Jeffries and my CBC colleagues told me is that, you know, they know I know our community. And leader Jeffries trusts Democrats to be able to know our communities well enough to have reached out, done the important outreach necessary to be able to make the decisions that we need to be able to make on how we can most effectively represent our community.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[08:35:11]

BLACKWELL: But in an interview here last weekend, the chair of that group, the Congressional Black Caucus, pushed back.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Did you personally encourage Congresswoman Wasserman Schultz to run in the 20th?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, let me say this. We had a conversation. Encouragement was not part of that conversation. I was essentially informed that Debbie wanted to run in this seat. Congressman Woman Wasserman Schultz wanted to run in this seat.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Four black lawmakers Wasserman Schultz is facing are worried about splitting the vote and indirectly helping her win. So, this week we learned that they met to talk about them all getting behind one black candidate. Among the four is former Congresswoman Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick. She resigned after an ethics investigation but is trying now for a comeback.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHEILA CHERFILUS-MCCORMICK (D) CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE IN FLORIDA'S 20TH DISTRICT: I don't think people understand how this is a national issue, how this really affects everyone. And all of us who are called to run and be in this moment have a responsibility to make sure that we can preserve this district.

DALE HOLNESS (D) CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE IN FLORIDA'S 20th DISTRICT: It is a tough conversation but you know, the sense in the room that we should have someone with the lived experience of the majority of the people in the district was very, very strong.

ELIJAH MANLEY (D) CONGRESIONAL CANDIDATE IN FLORIDA'S 20th DISTRICT: It makes it easier for her to win when the black vote is split. But I think that the strongest candidate can make a, you know, build a broad coalition to win this race.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Now the fourth black candidate at that meeting was Luther Campbell, AKA Uncle Luke. And he's with me live now. Thank you for being back on the show. Talk to me about this meeting. Are you all deciding whether there will be one of you who will go up against Debbie Wasserman Schultz?

LUTHER CAMPBELL, (D) CONGRESIONAL CANDIDATE IN FLORIDA'S 20th DISTRICT: Well, thank you Victor for having me on. Yes, we did go up and had a meeting in an unprecedented move, something that has never happened in this country. That needs to happen on a consistent basis to deciding who we allow to go and represent us.

And we talked about those things. We talked about a lot of things within that meeting. And what came out of, of this meeting is the fact that the times that we're in right now are very, very important. Broward County Congressional District 20 is ground zero to whether or not the Democratic Party is going to support African American candidates. When you have a person like Debbie Wasserman Schultz running in this race, it shows that there is a serious divide within the -- within the Democratic Party, whether it's white versus black, but I'm talking about black, the CBC.

CBC and black representation needs to stand up to this person who we consider as an oppressor, as a former member, as a Dixiecrat, because we thought we got rid of all those folks.

But at the same time, we talked about the issues, we talked about representation, we talked about who's capable of beating this monster in a head to head race. We're going to go back on Monday and have another conversation to see if we can figure out who that person would be. And I think under no -- under -- I mean, when you look at everybody in the room, when I looked at everybody in the room, I just sat there and listened and I talked at the end. But I only saw one person in that room that's capable of fighting this juggernaut and that's me.

BLACKWELL: And so if you think you're the only person who can win on a head to head race, would you be willing to drop out if you are outvoted on who the singular black candidate should be?

CAMPBELL: I mean, there's no such thing as a vote. I mean, we talked about polling. We talked about getting a real poll. Dale came in with some fabricated poll, which is what, you know, which is what regular career politicians do and try and sell like used car salesmen.

You know, I actually straight up to our face, how are you going to overcome the issue of your federal trial? I asked her that in that meeting. I asked Elijah how, you know, you're a young guy, you are our future, but is the time now for you? I asked Dale, you a career politician, you have not. Neither one of you all in this room has not made millionaires like I've made millionaires throughout the course of my lifetime in creating businesses, building programs and, you know, and -- go ahead. BLACKWELL: Let me ask you this because I want to -- I want you to respond to something that Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz said about her own candidacy.

[08:40:00]

This is her defense of why she believes she's best to represent Florida's 20th.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: I have represented a majority minority district for years. I know how to stand up, for fight for and represent diverse communities. And the feedback that I am getting all across Congressional District 20 has been enthusiastic and supportive because they know this is a community, this is a district that knows me. I've represented nine of the 14 cities in this district.

They know me and I know them. And they know that they want someone who has the seasoning, the experience. I've been in Congress for 22 years. I hold leadership roles on appropriations as well as in the Democratic leadership. And they know they want to have someone who's going to be ready to go in there and fight for them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: She says she has the seasoning that you don't. What's your response to that?

CAMPBELL: My response to that is at some point, everyone was a freshman congressional member or Senate member. I can tell you one thing about me, one thing about me. I've created millionaires through my lifetime. I've created an industry called the hip hop industry in the south when it did not exist. I built parks. I've did more things than Debbie has done in her 30 years since she's been in office for -- since 1992. It's time to get rid of people like her.

She's only running to protect her insider trading, in my opinion. I mean, that's what most people in Congress do. They leave the people out hanging out to dry to get on TV and all they do is scream and holler. Meanwhile, everyday Americans are suffering at the pump, at the grocery store and it's because of people like her. And she's attempting to divide this district and this body of the Democratic Party. She's doing that.

BLACKWELL: And let me ask you.

CAMPBELL: No, she has not one individual supporting her from the congressional black caucus.

BLACKWELL: Let me ask you about the Congressional Black Caucus.

CAMPBELL: We have people in the district that's supporting her. People hate her.

BLACKWELL: Because you went pretty hard on the Congressional Black Caucus on a recent podcast. Let me play what you said about the CBC.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAMPBELL: In the same way they jumped out there. Talk about the Republicans who are taking African American representation. They should be jumping out there with the same conviction with a member of their own party, which is Debbie Wasserman Schultz, and going at her the same way that they're going after the Republicans. Because you can't be hypocritical in this moment. You can't be like, oh, she's blue, so we can't go after her. No, she's white and we could go after her.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: What do you want to see from the CBC that you're not?

CAMPBELL: I want -- I want to see CBC stand out, put down on her. I mean, what we say in the community. I want to see him put down on. I want to see Hakeem Jeffrey stand up to her. But we know it's political game because the CBC feels like if they put down on her, then Hakeem Jeffrey may somehow upset the Dixiecrats that are still in the Democratic Party.

Let's keep in mind, we have not been suffering as a people. Black men have not been sitting at home in elections because we feel so comfortable about the Democratic Party. This is the moment where we make the decision as African Americans, do we continue supporting status quo within the Democratic Party, or do we stand up?

And that's why Broward County is ground zero to that. And I expect this CBC that stand up. I expect Leader Hakeem Jeffries to stand up to her and say no. And then I expect her white counterparts to say no.

Because you can't just figure out, Debbie, you can't just go in and you and Jared Moskowitz get in a room and say, Jared, I'm not going to run against you, but I'm not going to run back for reelection. But I'm going to go over there into the black district because I know the black candidates don't have as much money as I have because I got $15 million in my pack. I got $33 million in such funds. And I can go in there and take -- and take their seat.

No. Alston Hastings is rolling over in his grave right now. Rolling over in his grave right now. Because this is happening right now, but not on my watch. Vic, I'm telling you, she's dealing with a hurricane, a real hurricane. Category 5. And my name is Luther Campbell. And that's that -- that's the hurricane she's dealing with. Because I'm not going to sit by and allow this woman to come carpet bag into our community and do the exact same thing that the Republicans are doing. And I have a real serious problem with that.

We look, man, we -- look, if it's head to head, we going to do it. If it's not head to head, I mean, we still going to get it done. Because I have faith in white, black, Hispanic people in this district, and they going to do the right thing. They're going to look at this woman for what she really is, and they're going to vote for me.

[08:45:00]

BLACKWELL: Luther Campbell, thank you very much for being on the show. Now, we did reach out to Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz for an interview. They did not respond. The invitation remains open for her to join us on an upcoming Saturday. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: For years, Florida's housing markets have been among the hottest in the nation. But climate change is coming for Florida real estate now. A growing number of black homeowners are finding themselves suddenly priced out of their neighborhoods.

Take Miami. For generations, black Miami residents were pushed from desirable coastal areas and forced to live inland near the railroads and industrial sites. But there was a hidden advantage. Many of the city's historically black neighborhoods sit about 12 feet above sea level, while along the coast, the average is just four feet.

And now the climate safety in these neighborhoods have become a selling point, and wealthier buyers are coming in to marginalized neighborhoods.

[08:50:07]

A new article in Capital B reads, what used to be the wrong side of the tracks is now the city's climate escape route, and black residents are being pushed off the path they built. Capital B's Adam Mahoney is the author of that piece. He's with us along with Nicole Crooks, who now lives in Overtown after being priced out of Coconut Grove. Welcome to you both.

And, Adam, let me start with you, because these are the neighborhoods in Florida where black folks were forced into, redlined into, city planned into, and now they're being forced out by the people who didn't want to live there initially. Talk to me more about what makes these neighborhoods so appealing right now.

ADAM MAHONEY, CLIMATE AND ENVIRONMENT REPORTER, CAPITAL B: Yes, first, thanks for having me, but, yeah, we're in a period of what we call climate gentrification right now in coastal cities, and Miami is really ground zero for that. Like you outlined, the neighborhoods where black folks have been concentrated for generations are nearly 12 feet above sea level. And because of racism, redlining, and disinvestment, these areas have been undervalued for decades.

And, you know, just as recently as 2017, the median rent in these neighborhoods was only $800. Home values were in, you know, around 100 to 150k. But today, because of that shift and that influx of wealth moving into these neighborhoods, the median home value is pushing $800,000. And some rents are, you know, 22, 23, $2,400, which is pricing out longtime black residents.

BLACKWELL: Nicole, I read that your family was priced out of Coconut Grove, which was Miami's first black community 15 years ago, and now developers are buying up your new community of Overtown. When it happened back in 2010, 2011 in Coconut Grove, did you know why it was happening? Was it related to the climate back then?

NICOLE CROOKS, MIAMI HOMEOWNER PRICED OUT OF BLACK NEIGHBORHOOD: So it was, but I didn't know that. I didn't realize that we were in the midst of climate gentrification because I didn't even know that was a thing. I started to learn more of that once I was in Overtown and started seeing the writing on the wall and the cycle continuing here.

BLACKWELL: Talk to me about what that pressure looks like. I mean, are you getting cash offers for your home?

CROOKS: So I rent.

BLACKWELL: OK.

CROOKS: And so I think that's the difference. There are a lot of renters in Overtown, and what that looks like is that for some, the reality of the places that they live, they're -- they're subpar. And even though they're subpar, they still have to pay astronomical rent. So for example, there's a family that lives in a two bedroom that has an air conditioner in the window and they have to pay $1,500. But it's rat and roach invested. Right.

Their utility bills are higher than those who live in larger homes in different communities because they have weatherization in other places. Right. So it's -- it's the reality of consistently the rent going up where that's based on the AMI, the area median income. Right.

So there are just a lot of factors that the schools are closing, our Phyllis Wheatley Elementary School is closing because the demographic is shifting. So there's just so many factors.

BLACKWELL: And Adam, you write that this is not just a story about Miami. It's not about one black community. This will impact millions of people. You write in this report, by the end of the century, researchers estimate that climate events will force more Americans from their homes than the Great Migration.

MAHONEY: Yes, exactly. I mean, the estimates are there's going to be 10 to 11 million people pushed from their homes. And in Miami alone, that will look like a million folks being displaced. And it will look like factors like climate gentrification now where it's the results of people trying to build quote, unquote, climate resiliency, but it'll also be the direct result of sea level rise and homes on the coast being destroyed or, you know, hurricanes and flooding.

But what we've seen historically is that it is, you know, the folks who are at least responsible for these disasters so that the folks who are emitting the least pollution and who are living the most sustainably, which is historically black and Latino people in this country, will be displaced first.

BLACKWELL: And so Adam, where are people going now like Nicole, who was priced out of Coconut Grove, now they're coming for Overtown. Where do people go?

[08:55:00] Where are people going now? Like Nicole, who was priced out of Coconut Grove, now they're coming for overtown. Where do people go?

MAHONEY: Yes, I mean, based off of demographic research in Miami specifically, it's looked like black folks moving from this inland core which was protected right from sea level rise, being pushed further south to places that are lower elevation. So they're kind of being pushed towards the eye of the storm or they're being pushed out of Miami Dade County entirely or, you know, across the South.

Between July 2023 and 2024, Miami lost the most residents of all coastal cities in the United States. It was nearly 70k people were pushed from their homes.

BLACKWELL: Adam Mahoney, Nicole Crooks, thank you so much for the conversation. Tomorrow night on CNN, the premiere of the new CNN original series "This Land" discover the untold stories of America's expansion from the descendants of those who transformed the nation's map forever. Watch tomorrow night at 9:00 on CNN and then the next day on the CNN app.

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)