[Hughley:] On Thursday, Barack Obama received his first top-secret briefing from the director of National Intelligence; things that only a president can know. We actually got a hold of some of these files, and they are pretty scary. Check them out. Now, first of all, Obama learned that Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke gets night terrors and insists on sleeping between the president and the first lady. In addition, as soon as the president-elect is determined, he's immediately given an ATM card to the U.S. Treasury with a daily limit of $1 trillion. Also, anyone who stares directly at Nancy Pelosi turns into stone. On November 4th, this country made history by electing the first black president. There were a lot of people who worked very hard to get Senator Obama elected. Joining me now from Chicago is one of those key folks. Representative Jesse Jackson, Jr. How are you doing?
[Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr.,  Illinois:] Thank you, D.L. Congratulations on your new show.
[Hughley:] And congratulations to you, man. A job well done.
[Jackson:] Thank you.
[Hughley:] You know, I was watching the coverage, I was actually in Harlem. And they flashed this picture of your father, Jesse Jackson, Sr., and he was crying. And it occurred to me, I remember seeing my father cry twice, and they were both traumatic to me. What was that like for you to watch?
[Jackson:] Well, kind of painful. But I sat back and watched across the span of his life and thought about John Lewis walking across Edmond Pettus Bridge and Viola Liuzzo, a white Italian housewife getting killed trying to help Americans register to vote for the first time. The deaths of Schwerner, Goodman and Chaney, two Jews and a black, in Alabama and Mississippi during that period. And 45 years later, to watch Barack Obama accept the responsibility, the obligation of being the president of the United States had to be extraordinarily tough for a generation of Americans who watched people really lose their lives to make that moment possible.
[Hughley:] That is an amazing thing. Are you, and your father, times are tough, and sometimes you can go through things, but things like that, you just don't you kind of wish you were sharing it together at that very moment?
[Jackson:] Well, I was there. I wasn't sitting necessarily as close to him as I would have liked to have been, but, you know, as a national co-chair of Barack's campaign, this was an extraordinary moment for all Americans. People who paid the price across our country to make that moment possible; an extraordinarily emotional moment for millions of Americans. And the next day moving beyond the emotion it's about running the government, it's about giving the American people the kind of government that they deserve. And so, you know, we're still ecstatic about it, but now the work begins. The economic numbers that we got this week are terrible. Barack has a lot of work to do. We should all be prayerful for him during this period.
[Hughley:] Absolutely. There's news of you that you might potentially be filling Barack's spot. It's got to be a good time for a 40-year-old black dude from Chicago right now. You guys are doing well. I should move. What about that?
[Jackson:] Come on home, man.
[Hughley:] What do you think?
[Jackson:] It would be my honor. D.L., it would be my honor to succeed Barack in the United States Senate. I've served in the Congress of the United States for 13 years. I've only missed two votes. I was there at the foundation of Barack Obama's campaign for the United States Senate. I've served diligently and very hard for the course of his campaign to be president of the United States. And we need representation in the United States Senate. In fact, I'm willing to bet, I'm one of the few United States senators, if appointed, to ever be willing to even do your show.
[Hughley:] Absolutely!
[Jackson:] So I'm your only access to keeping it real on the floor of the United States Senate.
[Hughley:] Absolutely.
[Jackson:] You need me, D.L., and I need you, man.
[Hughley:] You know what's hilarious, he was all button up, but did you see how he did that little lean-in?
[Jackson:] Come on, now.
[Hughley:] You couldn't forget.
[Jackson:] I'm trying to keep it real for you. [Laughter, Applause]
[Hughley:] At the same time I was elated. And, you know, I was excited. I still see some things that need our attention. Like in California, there was a bill to protect animals that we're going to consume. They had to be housed humanely and treated more humanely before we consumed them. It occurred to me that if young black men were animal of some type, they would be endangered species and would be protected more so than they are now. Last year in Philadelphia, 345 black men murdered. Newark, 101, in Chicago, 418. Why do we seem to care more about animals than we do human beings? I've never understood that.
[Jackson:] You know, D.L., I don't have the answer to that. But let me tell you what I do believe in an Obama presidency. I believe many of our young men, because we have a symbol in the White House of dignity and honor, are going to be challenged psychologically in some profound ways. I think we're now going to enter a period, I hope, of respect, where we talk to each other, where we try to work out our problems; where some of our young men can pull up their pants and assume greater responsibility for the babies that they make. When we have a beautiful symbol like Michelle Obama in the White House, I hope that young women in our community will look up to Michelle Obama and say, wow, here's a family that treated each other with respect, that are treating the American people with respect. I think we're entering into a new era of caring. And I think Barack Obama and Michelle Obama are going to bring about that kind of civility and that kind of relationship in our community, because every time we step out of our homes now, we represent the president of the United States of America. You are an ambassador for this nation.
[Hughley:] You are absolutely right. You're absolutely right. So what do you think the future of civil rights is in this country?
[Jackson:] Well, there is a transition in our community from the profound and prophetic leadership of the church to the elected and accountable. Barack Obama has engaged the American people in a way that forces the American people now to pay attention to every word that is uttered out of the mouth of every politician. We are engaged now. And it will be President Obama's responsibility and obligation in order to move his agenda through the Congress for all Americans to keep voters engaged. That's really what this process has now become.
[Hughley:] Man, you are an amazing young cat, man. Give it up to Jesse Jackson, Jr. Thanks, man.
[Jackson:] Thanks,
[D.l. Hughley:] We've got plenty more coming up. Please stick around.