'my Brother's Keeper' Speech Bridges Gap

CHANCES THAT I HAD. >> QUITE A MOMENT AT THE WHITE HOUSE TODAY. THE QUESTION NOW, WHAT TO MAKE OF IT AND THE INITIATIVE AND THE PRESIDENT'S DECISION TO MAKE THIS SO DEEPLY PERSONAL. JOINING ME "NEW YORK TIMES" OP ED COLUMNIST CHARLES BLOW RECENTLY MET WITH THE PRESIDENT, CNN COMMENTATOR ANGELA DAVIS AND PASTOR -- YOU MET WITH THE PRESIDENT TALK ABOUT THIS IN AN OFF THE RECORD MEETING. WHAT'S YOUR UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT THIS ACTUALLY MEANS? THIS INITIATIVE? >> FIRST I THINK IT'S VERY PERSONAL TO HIM. IT'S A VERY SINCERE EFFORT ON HIS PART. I THINK THAT HE REALLY FEELS THAT THIS IS AN AREA WHERE HE WOULD REALLY LIKE TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE. AND HE'S BOTH NOW AND -- I MEAN YOU ALSO HAVE TO REMEMBER IT'S A VERY YOUNG PRESIDENT. HE'S GOING TO HAVE A VERY LONG CAREER -- >> THIS IS SOMETHING HE PLANS TO HAVE THE FOCUS OF HIS LIFE AFTER HE LEAVES THE WHITE HOUSE. >> I BELIEVE IT IS SOMETHING HE PLANS TO START NOW AND PROBABLY COMMIT THE REST OF HIS LIFE T TD TO THINGS THAT -- >> REVEREND JOHNSON, YOU WROTE AN OP ED LAST YEAR WHERE YOU SAID PRESIDENT OBAMA WAS A PRESIDENT FOR EVERYONE EXCEPT BLACK PEOPLE. DO HIS ACTIONS TODAY IN YOUR OPINION CHANGE CERTAINLY HOW YOU FEEL? >> WELL, I'VE ALWAYS LOVED THE PRESIDENT. I THINK HE'S DOING AN OUTSTANDING JOB. AND EVEN TODAY WHEN I LOOKED AT THE FACT THAT HE HAD THOSE PERSONS OF COLOR AROUND HIM, THE YOUNG MEN AND THE FACT THAT HE HAS BEGUN THIS INITIATIVE, IT SAYS TO ME THAT THE PRESIDENT REALLY NOT ONLY CARES ABOUT THESE YOUNG MEN BUT HE CARES ABOUT AMERICA. WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE PRESENT INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX AND THE FACT THAT THE OVERWHELMING MAJORITY OF THEM ARE BLACK AND HISPANIC YOUNG MEN, THE FACT THAT THE PRESIDENT WOULD BE SO BOLD TODAY TO USE HIS BULLY PULPIT TO TALK ABOUT THIS IMPORTANT INITIATIVE THAT REALLY NOT ONLY HELPS TO IMPROVE OUR COMMUNITIES BUT HELPS TO IMPROVE THE AMERICAN SOCIETY. >> THAT'S AN IMPORTANT POINT, REVEREND. TO THINK IT'S KIND OF LIMITING TO THINK OF THIS AS SOMETHING WHICH IS JUST FOR AFRICAN-AMERICAN MALES OR PEOPLE OF COLOR. THIS IS SOMETHING FOR AMERICA. IF PEOPLE IN THIS COMMUNITY DO BETTER, THEN WE ALL DO BETTER. >> AND I THINK THAT'S WHAT WAS SO PROFOUND ABOUT WHAT HE TALKED ABOUT TODAY. HE REALLY HAD SOME CONNECTEDNESS, THAT THIS AFFECTS US ALL AND THAT WE ARE ALL OUR BROTHER'S KEEPER. AND I THINK WHAT'S ALSO SIGNIFICANT, HE'S GOT TWO 19-YEAR-OLD MARTYRS ON HIS WATCH DURING HIS TIME AS PRESIDENT. HE'S GOT TRAMIKAELA, IN YOUR BE THIS IS SOMETHING PEOPLE ARE TRYING TO WRESTLE WITH AND HEAL FROM. >> I WAS TALKING TO CHARLES BACKSTAGE THIS. FELT LIKE A BIT OF AN EXHALE. AFTER THE JORDAN DAVIS TRIAL, IT WAS ALMOST TOO MUCH. LIKE WE'VE BEEN WALKING AROUND WITH A BIT OF SOBERED AND SO HEAVY AND SO HEART BROKEN AND SO ENRAGED, EVERYTHING HE SAID THAT WE SHOULD BE FEELING, A PART OF THE COMMUNITY HAS BEEN FEELING FOR ALMOST TOO LONG. SO THIS MOMENT WAS ALMOST TURNED THE LIGHT ON. LIKE THERE'S A LITTLE WE DO SEE YOU AND THAT ALSO THAT HE'S GETTING OTHER MEN TO BE ACCOUNTABLE FOR BOYS AND BOYS' ISSUES WAS ALSO VERY POWERFUL. BECAUSE YOU WERE THINKING, WHERE ARE ALL THE MEN? LIKE WHERE ARE THEY? AND WHO'S PAYING ATTENTION TO