(upbeat music)
Please welcome Van Jones.
(audience cheering)
(Wendy laughing)
Welcome back.
It's nice to see you.
(audience clapping and cheering)
Hey, I love this show.
Thank you, Van.
Regardless of whether you think
you're prepared, we always start with Shoe Cam.
(laughing)
No, no.
Put your feet on those feet.
They look fine.
Okay, good. You think they're alright?
They're fine.
From the front or from the side.
Yeah.
My producer, Dan Fitzpatrick,
told me that you didn't want Shoe Cam
'cause you didn't prepare the right shoes.
Well, I wear these busted ropers
and they got this split on the side.
Oh wow, they do. Wait, wait, wait.
I know, see, look.
I've been trying to--
Split cam.
I know. I've been trying to save the world, man.
(Wendy laughing)
Trying to save the world.
You wanna know what?
What?
That teaches people something.
You're a man of means,
and you're also a man who is busy saving the world.
You've got more important things to do,
than buying a new pair of shoes.
Those look like you've had them for quite some time.
These are my--yeah.
Polished them up.
Yeah, yeah. I do.
And you walked out of the house
knowing that they were split.
(laughing)
No, I mean that in a good way.
I like you a whole lot.
I do a whole lot of joking and kidding with you,
and you still come back.
For more.
No, but this show has made my whole career.
When I first came on, hardly anybody knew me
and Meek just got put to prison,
and then we gave him that love and shine,
that put me on the map.
And then when Kim Kardashian
went to the White House for the first time,
we talked about that.
And so, every time I come here
something good happens,
so I'm back again.
Yeah, yeah.
I'm back again.
Thank you.
Listen, by the way,
we did talk here on Hot Topics
about Kim becoming a lawyer,
and I thought that was a great idea
from the very beginning.
It wasn't until later in the story
that I found out she's with your firm.
And I was like, "Look at Van go."
Hey, listen.
Van go.
(laughing)
(audience cheering)
Van go.
How is she doing?
She's doing great.
I think that people are gonna have to do
a reassessment of her because
I think people still see her as that
kid back in the day with Paris Hilton
and all that type of stuff.
No, that's not what they see.
(audience laughing)
They see her taking back shots with Ray J.
(audience cheering)
(laughing)
That said, to your point,
people have many different dimensions.
But I respect the new Kim,
and you guys know I joke with that,
but that's fact.
And the Kim that has reemerged, I like it.
Now your firm is in Chicago.
Right, in Oakland.
In Oakland, I'm sorry.
It's in Oakland.
Yeah, perfect.
And she is studying very hard to become a lawyer,
and I'll tell you what,
she is serious as a heart attack about it.
A lot of times you work with celebrities on causes,
they'll show up for you when you call them.
Kim calls me.
Yes.
She's like, "What about this case?
"What about this case? What about this case?"
I just think her dad was a lawyer,
she's a mom of three black kids,
another one on the way.
I think that changes your perspective.
Kim Kardashian about to do some big stuff.
(audience cheering)
In the whole story,
the most shocking takeaway I had
is that I had no idea
that there are four states in our country
where you don't have to go to law school.
Absolutely, and California is one of them.
Now, you graduated from Yale,
does that make you feel aways
that you had to go to law school,
(laughing)
to be the Van Jones that you are?
No, because--
Or do you think that you're
a higher quality lawyer,
than an online lawyer?
No, no, no. I don't, I don't.
I'll tell you why.
California does it the old school way.
The old school way was you had to actually
work with the lawyer
and be an apprentice for four years,
as opposed to going to law school,
sitting in the classroom for three.
It's actually harder, the way that she's doing it.
She's gotta be tested every month.
People are like, "Oh, she's doing it some cheap, easy way."
It's much easier to just go to law school
and having it all that way.
You realize that if she's with
an accredited firm, like Van's firm,
if she doesn't do well,
then that is a slight on your firm,
and every single person employed there, so--
I wouldn't take the chance
if I didn't think she could do it.
I believe you, I believe you.
She can do it.
(audience clapping)
So now let's talk about
the Lori Laughlin case.
She turned down the plea deal,
and now she and her husband are facing forty years,
which that's a bit extreme,
forty years in prison.
Yeah.
What's your thought?
Was that a smart idea to turn down that plea deal?
It's so tough because these prosecutors
give you a deal, and then if you don't take it,
or you try to go for more,
then they just try to punish you.
And I just think that--
first of all, I'm against people being in prison period,
unless they are going to kill you tomorrow,
I think we have too many people in prison right now.
(audience claps)
So I'm not cheerleading for anybody to go to prison.
She's wrong for what she did.
You already have so much privilege
if you are white and rich and famous,
you don't have to buy no more privilege,
so she's wrong for what she did.
However,
I don't believe that prison makes people better,
I think prison makes people worse.
I think it hurts kids when their parents go away.
So what I would say is that
the prosecutor is trying to now bully her
into taking a deal that she doesn't want.
I put that as a negative against them.
Where do you think non-violent offenders
need to go?
We got some non-violent drug offenders
in this room right now, right?
Let's be honest,
there's a lot of people who are doing stuff
that they not supposed to be doing,
but nobody says,
"If my kid is on drugs, give him 15 years in prison."
That's not what they say.
They say, "If my kid is on drugs, I want them
"to go to rehab."
We already know what to do with poor kids
who are on drugs, because we do it for rich kids on drugs.
Let's treat everybody the same.
(audience cheers)
Treat everybody the same.
Yeah. The money is the factor.
Meek Mill was not on Time magazine's
Most Influential 100,
we talked about this on Hot Topics.
What are your thoughts?
Well, it's a crime.
I mean, this guy is one of the most
influential people in the world, period.
If Meek Mill, who got sent back to prison
for popping a wheelie because he was on probation,
and then decides not just to get himself out,
but then to start a whole organization,
a whole movement that reformalizes,
which I get a chance to work with,
and we're about to pass some laws.
That's you, Meek, and Jay-Z, right?
Me, Jay-Z, Michael Rubin,
a lot of heavy hitters are a part of this,
and we're about to pass laws
and make real changes.
If somebody like him who could've just dealt
with his own case and run away,
stayed in the fight and is now about to pass laws,
if you are not one of the most influential people,
I don't know who is.
He should've been in there.
Yeah.
He should've been on that list.
He should've been on the list.
I thought so.
But it's only a list,
Yeah, well we know.
And what do lists really matter
when you know, you know.
If you're on the Wendy list,
that's a good enough list for me, so I'm good.
I'm not on a list, I just sit here every day.
No, I'm just saying--
By the way, I watched your show Redemption
and I must be honest with you,
it's very scary to me.
Tell me why.
It takes me to a dark place.
No.
Because if you kill one of my family members,
I'm not coming back to redeem you.
I don't wanna be in the same room with you.
But I watch, because you and your wife,
excuse me, your soon to be ex-wife,
we'll get into that in just a moment,
(laughing)
Hold on, one thing at a time.
It does freak me out.
I prefer to watch it with the lights on,
and a snack that takes me away from--
No, I'm not messin' with you.
Why are you doing this show?
It's good though, by the way.
(laughing)
It's good.
I'm so glad that you raised,
first of all, of the eight episodes,
two of the surviving parents
do not get to a warm and fuzzy place.
Duh!
So that's a part of it.
But three get to a place of healing,
where they actually go and help
get the person out of prison.
Let me tell you why I wanted to show this show,
I wanted to show this show.
Goodness.
We have got to get back
to grace and empathy and compassion,
even when it's hard.
Can we do it
in a one-on-one basis,
(audience clapping)
can we take each individual at a time?
Everybody, if you're a killer,
every killer doesn't need to be redeemed.
Here's what I'll say.
I spent 25 years as an attorney,
going in and out of prisons trying to help people.
And what I have discovered
is that there are some people who go in one way,
as you said,
maybe they're remorseless,
maybe they're arrogant,
maybe they won't even admit what they did.
But despite prison, some people in there
transform themselves.
And I have seen some--
A few moments ago you said
prison hardens people.
Yeah, I don't like prison.
And because it usually hardens people.
But there are some people, despite prison,
A few of them.
More than you would ever guess.
And they transform, and there are some
diamonds behind those walls,
people who have become beautiful people.
And I want them to have a voice, too.
And that's why I watch.
I don't want to watch, but I watch.
(audience claps)
My show, and I'm glad that you asked,
I'm going to tell you something.
We need hope.
We need inspiration.
And my show is a heartbreak to hope show.
It starts off with the heartbreak
but you end up with some hope.
And part of what we need, honestly,
breakdowns can become breakthroughs if we use them right.
I know.
If we use them right.
And this show is about that.
(audience claps)
Let's talk
about your ex-wife, your soon to be ex-wife.
So this show is a breakthrough for the Jones family,
because Van and his wife,
you have kids?
Yes.
Yes.
How old are they?
10 and 14.
There you go.
But they are getting a divorce,
divorce is not finalized,
you still wear your ring.
You got some on your hand too,
so I ain't talking about this.
No, this is--
(laughing)
I'm just sayin'. I'm just sayin'.
We talk about you, man.
(laughing)
Excuse me,
this side of the couch is for the asking
of the questions.
(laughing)
That side is for giving up the information.
So you and your wife are executive producers
of this show, you worked together,
Every day.
You leave separately,
and the show is a hit so something's working
behind the scenes.
Here's what I would want to say.
You said every case is different,
but in our case, Jana was my best friend 20 years ago.
She's my best friend today.
We're raising these two boys together,
we've got this show together,
we're gonna keep on doing good.
Just 'cause one thing changed,
I mean, everything will have to change,
that's why I do it the right way.
Do it the right way.
That's why you continue to wear your ring
all through your dating life?
You're getting personal, man.
First of all, I got no dating life.
Let me tell you something,
I've been off the market for 20 years,
now you gotta go on apps
and put all your information in there,
I ain't doing all that.
So I'm good.
I'm just trying to save the world,
get my show, watch my show,
that's all I'm--
That's Van Jones,
he's a man of many faces.
He's smart, he's smarter,
he's A-list, but he's also a whole lotta fun.
(laughing)
His show is called The Redemption Project.
It premieres on Sunday night at nine o'clock on CNN.
(upbeat music)
