First Of All with Victor Blackwell

There has been an arrest in the case of Tasia Fortune, the 29-year-old Black woman found hanging from a tree in Mississippi. Jackson Police Chief RaShall Brackney joins Victor to share the latest in the investigation and address nationwide alarm about Fortune's death given the state’s racial history.

Plus, Victor speaks to Emerson Villaran Calles, who has lived in the U.S. for more than two decades but decided to "self-deport" this week ahead of the expected expiration of temporary protection from deportation for immigrants from El Salvador.

Texas is moving forward with a rewrite of social studies lessons that critics, including Muslim students, say is anti-Islamic. The Republican chairman of the Texas State Board of Education, Aaron Kinsey, joins Victor to respond.

Amid nationwide concern about Islamophobia around the 25th anniversary of 9/11, Victor shares the story of Muslim 9/11 victim and hero Mohammad Salman Hamdani.

The father of a murder victim in North Carolina shared the story of his son Shemar in a Senate campaign ad, but he now says he feels misled by the GOP ad-creators. Ronald Hayes joins Victor to discuss.

And for our Art is Life series this week, Victor explores how the Black workers who toiled in a swamp to build a garden are being honored decades after they were shunned from the place they helped create during Jim Crow segregation. Norfolk Botanical Garden Historian Martha McClenny Williams shares the history.

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Amid the search for thousands of people, including U.S. citizens, who are missing after the devastating flood on the border of Nepal and China, Victor speaks to Anurag Goel. His father Anil was on a hiking trip and has not been heard from in days.

Grocery store owner Carlos Collado joins Victor to talk about why he and other immigrant store owners in New York City are supporting a lawsuit against Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s plan to create city-run grocery stores.Victor also speaks with the Chairman of the Tohono O’odham Nation in Arizona who says armed federal agents entered their land this week alongside contractors to build a border wall that the tribe does not want.Plus, Janelle King, Jason “Jah” Lee and Edward Ahmed Mitchell join Victor to react to the latest legal fight over voting rights. Plus, they discuss a candidate in Texas who says he's no longer running as a Republican, but rather as a write-in candidate, after he was asked by a party official about training his dog to bite Muslims. They also weigh in on the controversy over a “racist” Halloween costume that Target is apologizing for, and the decision by a U.S. embassy to take down a painting by Kehinde Wiley that one State Department official calls "very woke" and "aesthetically terrifying".
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Sources tell CNN the U.S. Navy is working to rename an aircraft carrier currently slated to honor a Black World War 2 hero, potentially switching it to honor President Trump instead. A relative of Doris Miller, Thomas Bledsoe, joins Victor to share his family’s reaction, along with former Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro.

A man in Virginia says he was severely injured during an ICE arrest but has no memory of what happened. The Department of Homeland Security is denying his claim that he woke up in a hospital bed after losing consciousness. Jose Mejia Hernandez’s attorney, Carlos Jurado, joins Victor to respond.

A newly appointed judge is facing threats and calls to be removed from office over her Muslim faith. Assma Ali explains to Victor why she’s remaining positive amid Islamophobic attacks.

After a police officer in Los Angeles blew the whistle on alleged racism in the department, now he is the one facing criminal charges. Daniel Flores and his attorney, Alan Jackson, join Victor to react to a new announcement in the case from LA’s District Attorney Nathan Hochman.

And the first trailer for “A Different World" is finally out! Victor shares what he saw at a recent visit to the show’s set, where he spoke with the cast of new students and the stars returning for the upcoming sequel series.
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When a Russian-born American citizen named Ilya Beloozerov is gunned down by the FBI in 2024, the authorities refuse to say why they’d killed him. CNN’s Isabelle Chapman embarks on a sprawling investigation that takes her from the Mississippi parking lot where he died to Washington, D.C. to unravel the mystery: Why did Ilya abruptly leave his family and his job and head for the border with laptops and cash? Why is there still no official explanation of his death? And maybe most importantly: Was Ilya a spy?
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Looking ahead to a high-profile primary election in Wisconsin, and notable results from Michigan in the past week, Victor speaks with columnist Theodore Johnson of the Washington Post about Black voters and their feelings toward the evolving democratic coalition.



Two friends of Nolan Wells have now hired attorneys, and those lawyers say they traveled to Mississippi’s Horn Island to “investigate the layout and dynamic” following lingering questions and speculation about the teen’s death. Victor breaks down the latest developments with CNN’s Ryan Young, who is closely following the case.



The trial of the man accused of organizing the murder of Tupac Shakur starts in just days. Tupac's stepbrother, Mopreme Shakur, joins Victor to share how his family is bracing for this next big step in their fight for justice.



Major cities in Puerto Rico have been ordered to ration water. Victor speaks to Israel Meléndez Ayala in San Juan about why this is happening, and how long it’s expected to last.



U.S. Army Specialist Sayveon Anderson is still missing after disappearing more than a month ago from Fort Bragg. Victor speaks to Specialist Anderson’s mother, Pamela Anderson, along with his wife, Jasmyne Mowry, who is pregnant.



And later, Victor speaks with Brookyln Stroll Club founder Joe Gonzales for the latest shoutout in our “I See You!” series.

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