WEBVTT

00:02.100 --> 00:05.466 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70%
JUDY WOODRUFF: It was
a remarkable contrast
yesterday, in the middle
of an ongoing pandemic.

00:07.400 --> 00:10.600 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
Even as protesters took to the
streets in dozens of cities,
voters in several states

00:12.233 --> 00:15.666 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70%
were making their voices
heard at the polls, both
in person and by mail.

00:17.666 --> 00:20.933 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
In Ferguson, Missouri, where
protests first erupted in 2014
after the shooting death of

00:22.866 --> 00:26.366 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
Michael Brown by a white police
officer, the city elected its
first African-American and

00:27.100 --> 00:28.566 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70%
first woman mayor.

00:28.566 --> 00:31.533 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80%
Ella Jones reflected on her
historic win last night.

00:31.533 --> 00:36.533 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
ELLA JONES, Ferguson, Missouri,
Mayor-Elect: So, being the
first African-American woman,

00:38.633 --> 00:42.066 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
what does that mean? That means,
I have got work to do, because,
when you're an African-American

00:43.666 --> 00:47.500 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70%
woman, they require more
of you than they require
of my counterpart.

00:49.466 --> 00:53.466 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
And I know that the people in
Ferguson are ready to stabilize
their community, and we're

00:58.166 --> 01:00.266 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70%
going to work together
to get it done.

01:00.266 --> 01:03.166 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
JUDY WOODRUFF: To look at some
of yesterday's election results
and what it means ahead of

01:03.166 --> 01:06.966 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70%
November, I'm joined
now by someone familiar
to "NewsHour" viewers.

01:06.966 --> 01:11.766 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
It's Amy Walter of The Cook
Political Report and host of
public radio's "Politics With

01:11.766 --> 01:12.766 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60%
Amy Walter."

01:12.766 --> 01:14.833 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60%
So, hello, Amy.

01:14.833 --> 01:18.766 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
Let's start with those results
in Ferguson. It's almost like
bookends. You had the big

01:20.700 --> 01:24.500 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
protests of six years ago,
with the death of Michael
Brown at the hands of a police

01:24.500 --> 01:29.500 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80%
officer, six years later,
protests in Ferguson,
Missouri, over the --
over what happened in

01:31.533 --> 01:33.600 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60%
Minneapolis.

01:33.600 --> 01:37.600 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
It's a city still struggling,
like the rest of the country,
with this issue. How is it

01:39.566 --> 01:42.566 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
thought that the election
of this woman, Ella Jones,
could change things?

01:42.566 --> 01:46.333 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
AMY WALTER, The Cook Political
Report: Yes, Judy, it is quite
remarkable, again, to have

01:46.333 --> 01:51.300 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
the first African-American
elected in this week in a city
like Ferguson which -- that

01:53.666 --> 01:55.733 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70%
has so much symbolism.

01:55.733 --> 02:00.466 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
But what's also remarkable,
Judy, is how much the American
public has moved on this issue,

02:02.400 --> 02:05.800 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
this issue of excessive force
used by police, especially
against black folks. And what we

02:07.833 --> 02:12.766 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
saw in 2014 was, only a third
of Americans thought that the
police used executive force

02:14.333 --> 02:18.000 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70%
with African-Americans
vs. whites.

02:18.000 --> 02:23.000 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
In 2016, it was still about a
third. Today, a new poll came
out, Monmouth University poll,

02:26.100 --> 02:31.100 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
shows that almost 60 percent
of Americans now believe
that excessive force is being

02:32.900 --> 02:36.233 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
used against African-Americans
more so than it's being
used against whites.

02:36.233 --> 02:40.400 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
And I think that's an incredible
movement in such a short
amount of time. I think a

02:40.400 --> 02:45.400 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80%
lot of that is driven,
of course, by the
horrific video that most
Americans, if they haven't

02:46.566 --> 02:48.566 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70%
seen it themselves,
have heard about.

02:48.566 --> 02:53.200 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
And I also think it's reflective
of the fact that a lot has
happened since 2014, even in

02:55.666 --> 02:58.533 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80%
Ferguson. In Ferguson,
even before this election
of the mayor, a number
of African-Americans

03:01.200 --> 03:04.266 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80%
were elected to the city
council, so it went from
almost all white to being
majority African-American

03:07.000 --> 03:09.066 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70%
over the course of
these last few years.

03:09.066 --> 03:14.033 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
JUDY WOODRUFF: So, Amy, so much
to talk about there, but I also
want to ask you about Iowa.

03:14.900 --> 03:16.933 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80%
Very interesting result there.

03:16.933 --> 03:21.566 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
Republican conservative
Congressman Steve King, who is
known for making controversial

03:23.433 --> 03:27.466 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
statements over the years,
especially with regard to
white supremacy, and right now,

03:30.433 --> 03:35.433 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70%
he -- so, last night,
he goes down to defeat
in that primary in Iowa.

03:36.833 --> 03:39.166 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80%
What does this say about what
could happen in November?

03:39.166 --> 03:44.166 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
AMY WALTER: Judy, seems like
almost too much of a Hollywood
script, right, to have the

03:46.100 --> 03:49.800 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
first African-American elected
in Ferguson and then to have
somebody associated with

03:49.800 --> 03:54.800 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70%
anti-immigrant and
racist statements lose
in a primary in Iowa.

03:56.833 --> 03:59.533 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
It's not as simple as that, of
course. Nothing ever is in life
or in politics. The challenge

03:59.533 --> 04:04.500 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
that Steve King had also came
within his own party, and he
was defeated in a Republican

04:06.433 --> 04:10.100 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
primary, in large part because
the Republican leadership
abandoned him after he made some

04:11.500 --> 04:13.533 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80%
of these comments in 2019.

04:13.533 --> 04:18.300 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70%
But they were also
abandoning him because
of how weak a showing he
had in 2018. He almost

04:20.233 --> 04:23.300 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
lost in this very conservative,
very Republican district. They
got behind a state senator

04:25.300 --> 04:29.233 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
who's also very conservative,
who's also very closely tied to
Donald Trump. He tied himself

04:30.600 --> 04:32.600 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80%
very closely to the
president in his own ads.

04:32.600 --> 04:37.533 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
The campaign that the Republican
opponent to Steve King ran
wasn't taking on Steve King's

04:39.966 --> 04:44.966 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
past anti-immigrant or racist
statements. He didn't mention
that really at all. It was

04:46.966 --> 04:50.100 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
focused on the fact that Steve
King had lost his prestigious
committee assignment, that

04:52.766 --> 04:54.866 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70%
Republicans had
stripped him of that.

04:54.866 --> 04:59.533 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
So that was a bigger factor in
this race than the statements
that he had made previously.

05:01.500 --> 05:04.333 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
JUDY WOODRUFF: And now that
seat is going to be one tougher
for the Democrats to pick

05:04.333 --> 05:05.333 align:left position:40% line:89% size:50%
up.

05:05.333 --> 05:07.400 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80%
AMY WALTER: That's right.

05:07.400 --> 05:09.433 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
JUDY WOODRUFF: Republicans
think they have got a stronger
-- very quickly, Amy, in just

05:09.433 --> 05:12.466 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
a few seconds, this dispute
over the Republican Convention
in the state of North Carolina,

05:12.466 --> 05:13.966 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70%
where is that headed?

05:13.966 --> 05:16.433 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80%
AMY WALTER: It looks like it's
headed to a different state.

05:16.433 --> 05:21.433 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70%
The president wants
-- the president wants
a big convention, and
he wants a crowd. And

05:23.500 --> 05:25.500 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
North Carolina's not going to
give it to him, so he's going
to figure it out, and he wants

05:25.500 --> 05:29.633 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
to show America that he's
getting things back on track,
and the convention is his way to

05:29.633 --> 05:31.733 align:left position:40% line:89% size:50%
do that.

05:31.733 --> 05:35.833 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
JUDY WOODRUFF: Amy Walter, so
much to talk about. Thank you
very much. Great to see you

05:36.566 --> 05:37.500 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70%
on this Wednesday.

05:37.500 --> 05:38.066 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80%
We will see you next week.