#RolandMartinUnfiltered - 2.25 #RMU live from SC #DemDebate; Black voters to get their say in SC primary; Coronavirus fears

Episode Date: February 26, 2020

2.25.20 #RolandMartinUnfiltered live from the South Carolina #DemDebate; Black voters to get their say in SC primary; New Yorkers ask Blacks across America to reject Bloomberg on Super Tuesday over "stop-and-frisk"; 6-year-old girl restrained with zip ties and arrested for a temper tantrum; Coronavirus fears reach the U.S. #RolandMartinUnfiltered partner: Are you looking to enhance your leadership or that of your team in 2020? Join Dr. Jacquie Hood Martin as she engages others to think like a leader. Register and start the online course today! www.live2lead.com/Leesburg #RolandMartinUnfiltered is a news reporting platform covered under Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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This is Absolute Season 1. Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad listen to absolute season one taser incorporated on the iheart radio app apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts It is Tuesday, February 25th, 2020. We're broadcasting live from Charleston, South Carolina, the site of tonight's Democratic debate. Coming up on Roller Martin Unfiltered, we'll break down how critical the stakes are. Black voters for the first time get their say in this year's election.

We'll break it all down right here. It's time to bring the funk. I'm Roland Martin on the filter. Let's knowing. Putting it down from sports to news to politics. With entertainment just for kicks. He's rolling. It's Uncle Roro, y'all. It's rolling Martin.

Rolling with rolling now. He's funky, he's fresh, he's real the best. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Rolling with rolling now. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He's funky, he's fresh, he's real the best. You know he's rolling, Martel. Now. Martel. All right, folks, in two and a half hours, Democrats will take the stage here in Charleston, South Carolina, for tonight's debate airing on CBS.

I'm going to cast on BET. It is a critical one. Of course, black voters, for the first time during this whole primary season, get their say here in South Carolina. Upwards of 60% of voters in the Democratic primary in South Carolina are African-American. Based upon polling numbers, Vice President Joe Biden is leading, but Senator Bernie Sanders is coming on very strong. Surprisingly for a bunch of people, billionaire Tom Steyer is doing very well with black voters. So the question is, will there be a standout performance tonight? Senator Elizabeth Warren, OK, she needs to really close the gap.

Did very well last debate in Nevada. Let's see what happens tonight. Let's find out with a couple members of Congress right now. Congresswoman Johanna Hayes from Connecticut, also Congressman Donald Payne Jr. from New Jersey. Glad to see both of you here. What do you want to hear tonight, and do you expect tonight's debate, airing on CBS, but sponsored by the Congressional Black Caucus Institute,

will we see issues black folks care about front and center for two hours versus a couple of questions? Well, it's great to be here, and I think that you can rest assured that tonight's debate will be centered around the issues that are of concern to the African-American community. I think for the first time we see an electorate that's 60 percent African-American, and while everyone, we all stand for issues that affect everybody, I think there are some things that are specific to certain communities. And tonight, I think for the first time, we'll hear things that are very important to the black community, you know, critical issues that we've heard over and over that the African-

American community cares about. Congressman Payne, your thoughts? Well, in order for someone to be successful in this campaign here in South Carolina, you need to address those issues. We've made it clear to them that what we want to hear tonight are issues that are going to impact the majority of the population in South Carolina, henceforth around the nation. One of the things that obviously is important to African Americans, economic issues, also with this administration, a rollback in civil rights, but also voting has not come up a lot in these debates. Also the impact on the federal courts, what Republicans are doing with the federal judges they're placing as well. That has a direct impact on the concerns of black folks.

Well, I think you just hit it. But on all those things, I don't think we can lose sight of the fact that if we address them in the African-American community, that impact is felt in every community. So we have to ask those really difficult questions, have those really critical conversations. That's the only way we move forward. And, you know, this election is consequential to two generations of people moving forward with the appointments that the next president of the United States will be able to make lifetime appointments on every level, from the appellate all the way up to the Supreme Court. So for that reason, it is the impactful and crucial campaign and election for African-Americans.

Obviously, you're a teacher of the year. Education is important as well. What do you want to hear from these candidates when it comes to the issue of education? I think education has to be a part of any campaign moving forward. I was so disheartened in the last presidential cycle where there was so little attention paid to not just outcomes for students, but investments in the profession. I want to hear how do you plan to invest in the profession? How do you plan to invest in the future of education? So that's the answer to everything.

Any problem you have, my answer involves education. So there has to be an investment on the front end, not all of these responses on the back end that really are reactionary. All right. We're certainly looking forward to hearing what the candidates say tonight. So I look forward to being inside. Thanks a lot. I appreciate it. Thank you very much. Thanks a bunch. Folks, we're here, of course, like I say, in Charleston, South Carolina. We're actually in the district of State Representative Gillian. Representative

Gillian. Representative, come on. Yes. See? All right. Step on in here. How you doing? We're here in your district. What do you want to hear from these candidates tonight? How we turn out the vote. I mean, that's the solution to anything. As far as all our problems in this country, getting rid of the tyrant in office, we have to turn out the vote. But you have to, though, deal with the issues as well. And black folks, of course, a recent poll came out where one-third of African Americans in that poll say Democrats are not. First of all, one-third want another candidate. More than 50 percent say Democrats are not addressing their issues.

They are. Believe me, I'm a proud Democrat, and I know that we are. Our problem is we need some of our Republicans, brothers and sisters, to join us to help us solve these issues. But again, according to Adrian Shropshire's group, more than 50% of African Americans' poll, the poll was done by Cornell Belcher's firm, say Democrats are not properly addressing the concerns of African Americans.

What must these candidates tonight say on that debate stage that causes black people to say, okay, they hear us? They should do what Bernie say do. Let it be known it's about us. We the people. This is not about I, the party. This is about the people.

And I am a Bernie supporter, and I'm a proud Bernie supporter. Been since 1988 when he first endorsed Jesse Jackson for president. I've been with him then. I'm going to stick with him now because he's the man for the job. Now, when you talk about that,

people still want to hear a very specific economic plan for African AmericansAmericans. They want to hear a housing plan as well and some of those issues. And so do you believe that these candidates are saying what is specific to black folks in order to get them to say, OK, you know what? I feel as if they're actually listening to what I care about. Yes, I do. Not all of the candidates are addressing that issue as such, but there are some that are. And I think those are the ones that we need to listen to. I mean, you're in the middle of my district here that I proudly represent, and we're trying to address housing issues, homelessness, education, jobs. So, yes, some are doing that.

Okay. All right. We appreciate it. Thanks a lot. Absolutely. Again, folks, you hear folks out here who are protesting. You got Biden supporters, Bernie Sanders supporters, Medicare for all supporters. There are various people here.

At some of the previous debates, you've also had people who are also putting pressure on the Democratic candidates to speak to the issue of school choice and charter schools. Howard Fuller, of course, he's been there in Houston at the TSU debate. They were there in Ohio as well, in Atlanta. Howard is here right now. Howard, since you started this whole issue in terms of really trying to put pressure on these candidates, does everybody know I'm a school choice supporter as well? Are you hearing what you want to hear, or do you believe that the candidates are still not really addressing this critical issue? They're still not addressing this issue. And when they do address it, they oppose what our families need. I've been down here since Thursday, and I've been visiting with black people.

I went to a charter school, Roland, that serves about 280 poor black children in a housing project. All of the teachers in that school are retired black educators. And I heard their voices about why charter schools are important. On Sunday, I spoke at Ebenezer AME Church, and I talked about this need to have options. The school that I'm talking about came out of Ebenezer. So what's clear is these people, man, are still not addressing the needs of black people. And so what needs to be done to get them to do so? Of course, in previous debates, Senator Cory Booker was on stage. He spoke up in support of charter schools.

But, of course, he's out of the race and some of the other candidates who indeed were supporters. Right. Well, the thing is, we have to continue to be present and we got to continue to be in their face. We need more people like you who are going to tell the truth about what black people really want to hear, not only about education, but about a whole bunch of other issues. And these people are not addressing these issues. And are you hopeful? First of all, you got Super Tuesday coming up, Florida. That was a huge issue in Andrew Gillum's campaign.

18% of black women supported Rhonda Sanders over Andrew Gillum. Are you hopeful that that will begin to pick up? You know what? I'm not hopeful, to be honest with you. But what I do want to say is these people better wake up or what's going to happen is they're going to nominate someone who's going to get crushed by Trump. And so at some point in time, they're going to have to recognize they cannot win this election just with the teachers union. All right. I fully appreciate it, man. Thanks a lot. All right. Again, folks, they're going to be a number, a number of things that come up.

As I said, this debate is being sponsored by the Congressional Black Caucus Institute. It's airing on CBS. So the question really, really is what are the issues going to come up? Or will the moderators, two African-American moderators, you have Gayle King, who was one of those moderators, and Bill Whitaker from CBS. The question is, will our issues be front and center, or will they get ignored like they have in the past? I just want to bring in, of course, my panel, Malik Abdul, Republican Strategist, Kelly Bethea, Communication Strategist, Michael Brown, former Vice Chair, DNC Finance Committee. Michael, I want to start with you. This is a huge, huge state, obviously, for black

voters. And you would think that tonight's debate will put them front and center. I'm not necessarily sure. Hopefully the folks at CBS won't just ask a race question or two. They're actually going to go in depth talking about black housing and economics, African-American businesses, questions that are specific to African-Americans. Well, you're right, Roland, and I'm glad you're down there. And that's one of the great things about Roland Martin Unfiltered is you go to the places where people matter, especially black folks. So thank you for doing what you're doing. You know, it is a it is a big night, and obviously Saturday is even bigger because people obviously get a chance to vote. And I don't necessarily think every single solitary question has to be a black issue

because other issues also impact the black community on a global scheme. So it should be a kind of a balance between issues related to the African-American community and then issues, what, black folks don't care about terrorism? black folks don't care about terrorism black folks don't care about the economy of course they do so it should be at some kind of balance relative to how the questioners or the panelists ask the candidates sorry Kelly I want balance here's why I look at all these other debates and the bottom line is you know what maybe that was a question or a couple of questions bottom line for me if this is gonna be a CBC Institute debate this is what I expect I expect

look when there's a debate on a Univision guess what a hell of a whole lot of questions pertain to the concerns of Latinos and so that's what I want to see tonight your thoughts I agree with you, especially like you said, the CBC is founding or the CBC Institute rather is sponsoring this debate. I feel like considering that there are several debate, there are not too many debates left after this. This is really like our only chance to really put black issues on the map and to really get granular with those black issues on a national scale. So I want to hear about criminal justice reform, but I don't want to hear just the phrase criminal justice reform. I want to hear about what their plans are regarding collaborating with

Mississippi, the state of Mississippi and the Parchment Penitentiary and how they're going to either tear down the building or renovate the building to make sure that these prisoners are having adequate human rights actually implemented. Instead of just hearing about health care, I want to hear about black maternal death rates actually increasing in this country and us being the only first world country, so to speak, to have this kind of predicament. I want to see and hear how they're going to plan those things. I want to hear about the economy, but not just about any part of the economy. I want to hear about affordable housing. I want to hear about plans to close the wage gap between blacks and

whites and black women and white women and all those things. We can get granular today if the moderators do their job and if the candidates were actually prepared well. I'll tell you this, Malik, I remember the last time there was a debate here in South Carolina and there were a few questions, but pretty much a lot of concerns of black folks pretty much got ignored because the moderators were asking these very general questions. To me, look, as somebody who knows how to ask questions, there is a way to speak about broad issues. If you want to go international, these candidates should be asked about Donald Trump limiting people from Nigeria and other African countries from coming into this country. They should be being asked about countries like Nigeria,

in terms of we get significant amounts of oil, what is happening with policies there. Also, I say you can go international in that way. You could talk about, of course, what's happening with Haiti and other nations. But also, we have to deal with the coronavirus and the impact as well that can hit anybody and how you have a Trump administration really having difficult times even answering questions about even Republicans in the U.S. Senate. I'm going to play something a little bit later.

Again, this to me is where we want to hear what we care about because we're used to having our issues being put on the back burner and other folks' issues, namely white Americans, being front and center. I think I'm going to just agree in part with both Kelly said and what Mike said. I think that, you know, on the front end, I know I am not expecting there to be an entire debate about black issues, but I am expecting them to be able to go in depth on the issue. I can't think of the gentleman, the last gentleman that you were interviewing, but I definitely hope. Howard Fuller. Yeah, Mr. Fuller.

I definitely hope that the candidates and the moderators ask them to really dig deep on this whole notion of school choice. You know, we really haven't had that type of debate, I don't think, in this entire cycle at all. And so I think asking questions like that, we can really dig in deep. I agree with affordable housing. And in fact, if you really want to know, I think it was last week when the young lady, the organization that

came out with a blueprint of black issues, I can't think of what the young lady's name was, but if you want to know what questions to ask, well, that's a pretty good guide on some of the things that we're interested in. Again, I don't expect them to go through every single issue. And there will be people who will be upset that X number, X issue wasn't selected as far as, you know, X issue versus Y issue wasn't chosen. But I do think that they can have a really robust discussion on issues that matter to us most. So, yes, things like Senate, not just, you know, Kelly was talking about prison reform. that type of thing is great, but sentencing reforms, talking about, and me, just as a Republican, I want to hear how they're willing to work with the other side to get things done, as opposed to what we normally hear is that the other side is evil, and so we just need to come

in there and fix everything. I think there needs to be a discussion about how we move forward outside of the politics, and so that's really what I'm looking for. In addition, well, first of all, let's be real. Let's be real clear. There've been more than 300 bills have been passed in the House, many of them bipartisan bills that McConnell hasn't even taken up in the Senate. So you have examples where Democrats have actually worked together with Republicans, but you have Republicans in the Senate, like Mitch McConnell, who want to move forward on those bills. And so let's just be clear, that's actually happened. I got to ask you all this question here. I said before the last debate that was in Nevada that Senator Elizabeth Warren and Vice President Joe Biden needed to crush it in the Nevada debate.

They did. What do you expect to happen tonight? So much of the fire was targeted at bloomberg at some point michael these democratic candidates are going to have to take on senator bernie sanders and knock him down a peg because he is clearly the front runner winning by huge barges in nevada coming on strong in south carolina and polling well in the 15th super tuesday states and so you would think that they are not going to ignore him this time and only focus on Bloomberg. I think you're probably right, Roland. You'll probably see that tonight. And I think you'll see also Bloomberg taking a

couple of shots here and there as well. But I do think you'll see the focus on Senator Sanders. But the math is the math until or if they even consider it until Mayor Pete and Amy Klobuchar consider and Tom Steyer consider moving out of the race we're gonna have the moderates continuing to split the numbers and Bernie's or Senator Sanders excuse me pathway is going to be much easier and if you believe some of the folks on the Hill that think that Senator Sanders on top of the ticket actually also hurts down ballot, then you could see some interesting things coming through the summer and possibly at the convention,

especially if they get to the second ballot at the convention where superdelegates can play a role. Malik, one of the things that, again, we talk about this debate and then what's going to happen, again, I go back to when you look at the targeting of the frontrunner. They really did not go after Sanders in the last debate. They've got to do it this time because, look, you've got to knock him down. You can't just simply give him another free pass. Last debate, 20 got to do it this time because, look, you got to knock him down. You can't just simply give him another free pass. Last debate, 20 million folks watched it. Right. Yeah. So I expect them to actually go after Bernie this time. It made sense to really go after Bloomberg in the last debate simply because he was the story of the day. So a lot of people were talking about

how much support he's getting, and he is getting a lot of support from many black people across the country, mayors specifically, but I expect them to definitely go after Bernie. But let's be clear, they've done this before. So Bernie has been the target before. I expect them to definitely go after Bernie tonight, and I expect Bernie to respond as he has every single time people have gone after him. But he's the target tonight, not Joe Biden, definitely Bernie Sanders, even though I'm still expecting Joe Biden to pull out a win in South Carolina. Let's game this out, Kelly. Look, I think if the moderators tonight do their job, if they do their job, they question Mike Bloomberg about stopping Frisk, about him opposing a settlement for the Central Park Five.

They question Vice President Joe Biden about the 1994 crime bill. They question Bernie Sanders about voting for the 1994 crime bill. They question Buttigieg about black arrests in his city for marijuana. And they question Amy Klobuchar in the case of a black man who, of course, will sit in the prison as well. If I'm on that stage and if I'm Elizabeth Warren and if I'm Tom Steyer and they don't do it, you know what I'm going to do? I'm going to bring it up because I think those are the two people who don't have, frankly, the criminal justice baggage that the other candidates do.

To me, that's how you also make a move to advance yourself on a debate stage and set yourself apart no i definitely agree with you there um i think people will be a little bit surprised at how much uh popularity steyer has um in south carolina i think we talked about this a couple weeks ago how steyer has actually been gaining ground in south carolina because he has been saturating their media with political ads for months. So when you talk about his relationship with the state and with the constituents therein, especially the black community, that's exactly where he went when he went to South Carolina. He has been really just trying to hone in on black people in South Carolina for months. So I wouldn't be surprised if Steyer is even a favorite.

I don't know if he would win South Carolina, but I think he would be further up on the placement sheet than we might anticipate. Regarding Warren, again, I agree with you. I wouldn't be surprised if we have another moment with her, how she grilled Bloomberg, if she grills Biden or Sanders the same way. But again, with Biden in South Carolina, he's actually taking the lead right now. So I would actually not necessarily go after Bernie Sanders full throttle. I would also go after Biden as well, because there still is a chance that he will take that state. And knowing that chance is very viable, I would go after him as well. Hey, Roland, I just can I just say, Mike, OK, yeah, yeah, definitely. Yeah, I just yeah, I just wanted to say very quickly, I don't think that that's as far as attacking Biden or Bernie on the crime bill.

I honestly don't think that's a dog that really hunts nowadays. Warren can go after him. But the reality is, is that the first black president chose Joe Biden with his history voting for the criminal justice, the 1994 bill, crime bill. So, yeah, she can make the attack, but I just don't think it's something that's really going to stick with Joe Biden for any reason. Actually, I think you're wrong. And the reason why, because again, in all of these debates, in fact, in the last debate in Nevada, they had this one moment where they were going back and forth on criminal justice reform and nobody questioned Biden on it. The reality is you still have to force Biden to answer the question, how can you stand here and say you're

going to do this, this, this, this, when you were the author of the bill that played a critical role when it came to mass incarceration? You have to force him to answer the question. You can't just give somebody a pass because it is an issue. And Roland, I'll tell you what also, what other dog may hunt is they've also given Senator Sanders a pass, except for one time, Vice President Biden mentioned it on his record with the NRA. Every person up on that stage has an F rating with the NRA except Senator Sanders. So it seems to me they need to hit him on his relationship with the NRA as well. Yeah, absolutely.

And that's the point. I mean, the bottom line is this here. Look, one of the mistakes that seeing Elizabeth Warren made, frankly, was that she was running this unity sort of campaign. No. Okay, you unify the party after you win the nomination. Okay. You have to win the nomination and this whole idea, you could play nice and you know, I don't really want to go after somebody. Okay, fine. Guess what? You're going to keep coming in fourth and fifth place. At some point on that stage,

you have to separate yourself from someone else and and you must challenge them, and you must go after them on an issue like that. I believe that if Senator Elizabeth Warren, if she does that, I believe, and again, I said this before in Nevada, it wasn't going to show up in Nevada, and it's not going to show up in South Carolina. But if there is a time for her to make a move, it's to go back to being Elizabeth Warren we've always known. And to me, that's an issue that Biden cannot try to dance himself out of. Bloomberg can't dance around it. She didn't do it last time, but I will turn to him and I will say, I need to understand how can you, Mike Bloomberg, be on the same side of Donald Trump when it came to the Central Park Five, when it came to their innocence, and then you fought through a settlement, and the only reason

they got a settlement was because Bill de Blasio was the mayor. That, to me, you have to go there. Otherwise, why in the hell are you running? Yeah, now, Roland, I agree with you on Bloomberg, but I just think that attacking Biden for something that happened 26 years ago, sure, it's a valid point of attack. But I just don't know how far you go with that. So she attacks Joe Biden. Easy. You go with it as far as you can because even though that was 26 years ago, it still resonates today. Right.

So I totally get it. But you don't. Here's the deal. Okay, President, perfect example. The last debate, what did Joe Biden do? I passed this. I passed this. I passed this. Don't forget, I passed this. And somebody should say, and guess what? You also passed the 94 crime bill. See, again, you're trying you're trying to go after your opponents. You don't give them a pass. No, I told I totally get that, but Biden has answered that before. Hillary Clinton has answered that before.

Actually, guess what? It hurt her big time and Biden hasn't answered it. When he's given the answer, it's been a rather weak answer. It's not been a strong answer. I think that he should have a good answer, but once he gives that answer and says

something like, essentially, if we know then what we if we knew then what we know now, I apologize. It's something that I've worked on since then to X, Y, Z. There's really no place else for Elizabeth Warren to go. I personally I think that Elizabeth Warren probably should be looking to drop out out of this. I expect her to have a very commanding debate performance, just as she did in Nevada. But I don't expect her to I don't I don't expect her to move in the polls at all because I just think that she's going to be out after this. I don't think it's necessarily a point that is moot, you know, with Warren when you said that Warren could talk to, you know, attack Biden on this and basically be like, oh, well, he said something,

move on. I'm thinking back to 2016 when Trump was all over Hillary Clinton about the emails. She answered that ad nauseum, went to a hearing and actually answered it on the record, ad nauseum. And yet and still we are still talking about her emails to this day, five years later, and it's a moot point. But people actually didn't vote for her because what was the message? But her emails, her emails, her emails. So it doesn't matter whether or not the point has already been addressed. As long as you keep honing in on that negative point, it will make an impact. So it's not a bad strategy for Warren to be like, hey, remember 1994? Hey, remember 1994? I know that's what you said, but still, 1994 still exists. And guess what? This happened because of what? 1994. So it can have momentum if it's played right.

It can have momentum if it's, you know, in the strategy to actually make her bump up in the polls. But again, if you only say it one time and be like, well, he just answered it, guess we should move on. Again, that's playing nice in politics. And we don't have time for that. The stakes are much higher now. And if you want to be president, you're going to have to get your hands dirty just a little bit. And it's not even dirty. It's simply just politics. Hey, Roland, I don't think he will. You know what it seems like. And Mike, the reason what Kelly said is important is because of this. Joe Biden, this is his third time running. He's never won a state, okay?

He is more likely going to win South Carolina, but he has to win South Carolina by a large number because he's been leading for quite some time. If you go after Joe Biden, and let's say he wins two, three, four points instead of five, eight, or ten, He's even a weaker candidate. He might be the one who drops out. All I'm saying is, if you're running for president, damn it, you got to run. Mike, go ahead. Absolutely. And going back to 94, and as you know, Roland, Vice President Biden taught me in law school, so I always like to do full disclosure. But going back to 1994 and remembering that idea of that crime bill was not created by

the Clinton administration. It actually came from black urban mayors that were under incredible seeds from the crack epidemic that started, as we know, in the late 80s into the 90s into urban areas. It was the mayor's ideas. Obviously, the Clinton administration pushed it. Yes, many senators, including Vice President Biden, voted for it. But it wasn't exactly like this came out of thin air from the Clinton administration. It came out of urban America. Just like the opioid issue is coming from rural America. The reason why you bring it up, Malik, is also because in the last debate, Joe Biden stood on that stage and he proclaimed it was Barack Obama and I who led the effort and sent the monitors in to stop and frisk in New York City. That was a lie.

The federal judge who declared it unconstitutional did an interview, and she said that simply was not the case. And so what I'm saying is if I'm Warren and I don't have the baggage of these other folks on these issues, I'm going to hit them with everything I got and force them to say, no, what you said in last debate, Vice President Joe Biden, was simply not true. That was a lie. You ain't stop stopping Frisk. Then you tell Bloomberg. Bloomberg, you also lied. You didn't take it down 95%. You were forced to do this. All I'm saying is, if you want to show somebody that I should be the nominee

and knowing full well how people are targeting Bernie Sanders, the reality is Elizabeth Warren is the second choice of Bernie Sanders supporters. If you get to the point where the party's like, yo, this guy is way too far to the left, then actually, Warren is a safe alternative when it comes to being somebody who's progressive, who doesn't call herself a socialist. And again, I think her window is very small. What I'm saying is the window has a closing on a night like tonight. This is when you have to stand out. I'm coming from all three of you. Yeah, I think that you make a point about it being a good debate strategy for Elizabeth Warren to go after Joe Biden. I just I just find it hard to believe that in a state with such a heavy black voting population

as South Carolina, that Elizabeth Warren will be able to convince a majority of those voters that somehow Barack Obama made the right choice. No, you're missing it. Malik, you're missing this. Malik, you're missing something. The point of it is not to convince the majority of people in South Carolina. You're not just talking to South Carolina tonight. The point is you're speaking to March 3rd. Then 15 states go to vote. That's my point. You're missing it.

No, okay. The last debate wasn't about Nevada. She was going to come in fourth in Nevada. What I'm saying is this here, if you're sitting here watching the moment right now and you're seeing what's going on and you're seeing people saying, okay, Bernie is cementing his status. And then you have Democrats who are saying, well, we're looking for an alternative. What I'm saying is if I am going to try to stay in this race, I got to figure out some way to hit you, you, you, you,

and you, and I'm going to use the strongest thing to hit you with. And that's why I'm saying you got to force Biden to stand on a debate stage in front of a black audience and say, I need you to address that crime bill and the after effects of it. And then exactly what are you going to do? I need you Bloomberg to say, what the hell are you going to do? I need you Bloomberg to say, what the hell are you going to do when it comes to repairing the PTSD of the more than 5 million people who was stopped when it came to the issue of stopping frisk and also address Central Park five and then Buddha judge and force Amy.

All I'm saying is with the niceties at some point, if you're going to stay on that debate stage, damn it, you got to get your ass in the game and stop playing nice and hit your opponents with everything you got. Otherwise, you might as well go back home. I totally agree, again, that it's a great debate strategy for Elizabeth Warren. What I'm talking about is the effectiveness of that. I don't think that she will be able to paint him as this person who has this really weak history on criminal justice reform because of the bill. I just think his attachment, being the vice president to the first black president of the United States, it doesn't inoculate him.

I think that he deserves the criticism. I just don't think that that's a convincing message. So many years later with not just Biden, but with so many even members of the CBC at the time who supported the bill, I just don't see how that becomes an effective strategy to get more people to support Warren. I'll tell you what, it sure hurt Hillary Clinton, Kelly. And not only that, Kelly, you got the video of Elizabeth Warren fighting Joe Biden in a Senate hearing when it comes to the bankruptcy bill. And what she should do, that's what she should say. And Joe, you and I went toe to toe and you stood with the banks against the consumers. What I'm saying is there is a way, Kelly, for Senator Elizabeth Warren

to be able to go after the frontrunners in a way that can actually help her. And again, we know after the New Hampshire debate of the late deciders, one third went for Amy Klobuchar. We know after the Nevada debate, one third of the late deciders went to Warren. What I'm saying is I'm looking tonight to see who is going to be the ones that stand out i think moving forward buddha judge is polling around two percent from black folks uh you have closer polling at point five percent among black folks and so i think if you're talking about who's gonna probably in the situation and drop out look it's three it's four people really okay it's steyer clovisharbuchar, Buttigieg, Warren.

What I'm saying, Warren's polling better than among African-Americans. I'm saying this is where you make the move and you force Sanders, Biden, as well as Bloomberg to deal with these issues. Kelly, then Michael. I absolutely agree with you. And one point to be made regarding debate strategy, everything that's said on that debate stage doesn't stay on the debate stage. Like you said take whatever's been said on that stage and create more media campaigns surrounding that such that it's not just going to be left on the South Carolina floor. That can be a media campaign for the rest of the states about to vote. So whatever is being said tonight is actually fodder for, you know, what's to come down the 2020 election cycle so to Malik's point

about you know it not being an effective strategy I technically I disagree because what Warren says tonight can actually help her it can help boost her if it's played right and that's the thing it has to be played right in order for it to be right and Michael gets what stands out here this is what you're trying to tell people, okay? This race is not decided. It's not settled. This thing can shift. And what I'm saying is, you can be in the right position at the right time, but if you never take your shot, you're not going to have a shot. Absolutely not. I think you're exactly right,

Roland. And too bad you're not one of the moderators tonight, because you would have been perfect. But you know, Senator Sanders. I'm way, I'm way too black for these mainstream networks. Senator Sanders.

You see what I got on? I see you, Dashiki. I see you, Dashiki. It's very nice. Yes, you look very nice. And it is, as Kelly said. All right, nice. Yes, you look very nice in it, as Kelly said. All right, so Senator Sanders' base is very similar to Trump's base. He has it. They're not going anywhere.

The only chance you can peel off any is maybe Warren. They're not going to Biden. They're not going to Bloomberg. Maybe at the end of the day, obviously, if he's not the nominee. But in the meantime, the technicians have to go in different directions. I think Warren has to go after Sanders. I mean, yes, she can maybe take a swipe at Biden if she wants to, but that's her problem. Her problem aren't those moderates.

Her problem is Bernie. And then different people have to go after different people. The moderate folks have to go after, like, I know Joe is Mr. Uncle Joe and nice guy. He hasn't really gone after the moderates very hard because he has to get them out of the way. The only way he has a chance to deal with Sanders. So it's different angles and different. I don't know if Biden needs to waste time taking a swipe at Bernie. He needs to deal with taking swipes at those other moderates.

Everyone has a different place to go. Yep, I agree. Got to go to a break, folks. When we come back, we'll talk to a sister who is trying to unseat a Republican in North Carolina. That's next on Roland Martin Unfiltered, broadcasting live from Charleston, South Carolina, site of tonight's Democratic National Debate. Back in a moment. To me, there are no greater patriots in America's long history than the black citizens who are willing to die for a nation that was denying them their rights.

Mike Bloomberg is the only Democratic presidential candidate that has a real plan to fight for those sacrifices that have been taken for granted for far too long. And I've got to think it was in hopes that their service and sacrifice might redeem those rights for their children and grandchildren. Introducing the Greenwood Initiative, a bold new plan to help black Americans create generational wealth. One, we will help a million more black families buy a house two we will double the number of black-owned businesses three we will help black families triple their wealth over the next 10 years to an all-time high mike will get it done visit mikeforblackamerica.com to learn more there are concrete proposals that we can afford and that we can get done and we will i'm mike bloomberg and i approve this message paid for by mike bloomberg 2020 check out roller martin unfiltered youtube.com forward slash

roland s martin subscribe to our youtube channel there's only one daily digital show out here that keeps it black and keep it real as roller martin unfiltered see that name right there roller martin unfiltered like, subscribe to our YouTube channel. That's youtube.com forward slash Roland S. Martin. And don't forget to turn on your notifications so when we go live, you'll know it. All right, so a lot of y'all are always asking me about some of the pocket squares that I wear. Now, I don't know.

Robby don't have one on. Now, I don't particularly like the white pocket squares. I don't like even the silk ones. And so I was reading GQ magazine a number of years ago, and saw this guy who had this this pocket square here and it looks like a flower this is called a shibori pocket square this is how the Japanese manipulate the fabric to create this sort of flower effect so I'm gonna take it out and then place it in my hand so you see what it looks like and I said man this is pretty cool and so I tracked down the it took me a year to find a company that did it and so they basically about 47

different colors and so I love them because again as men we don't have many accessories to wear so we don't have many options and so this is really a pretty cool pocket screen and what I love about this here is you saw when it's in in the pocket you know it gives you that flower effect like that. But if I wanted to also, unlike other, because if I flip it and turn it over, it actually gives me a different type of texture. And so therefore it gives me a different look. So there you go. So if you actually want to get one of these Shibori pocket squares, we have them in 47 different colors. All you got to do is go to rolling thismartin.com forward slash pocket squares. So it's

rollingthismartin.com forward slash pocket squares. All you got to do is go to my website and you can actually get this. Now, for those of you who are members of our Bring the Funk fan club, there's a discount for you to get our pocket squares. That's why you also got to be a part of our Bring the Funk fan club. And so that's what we want you to do. And so it's pretty cool. So if you wanna jazz your look up, you can do that. In addition, y'all see me with some

of the feather pocket squares. My sister who is a designer, she actually makes these. They're all custom made. So when you also go to the website, you can also order one of the customized feather pocket squares right there at RolandSMartin.com forward slash pocket squares. So please do so. And of course, it goes to support the show. And again, if you're a Bring the Funk fan club member, you get a discount.

This is why you should join the fan club. All right, folks, in North Carolina, federal judges have, of course, changed the shape of the districts there, giving Democrats a shot to potentially snatch some of the Republican seats in Congress from the GOP. Of course, Republican Congressman George Holding, he is the incumbent. He is being targeted by several Democrats. In the last election, 2018. He lost by six points to Linda Coleman. Democrats think they could have a pickup there.

One of the folks who was running against him, of course, is my next guest. She is, first of all, her name is Monika. She joins us. First of all, she is a school board member, executive director of a North Carolina coalition against sexual assault. And spent 20 years advocating for thousands of women and children. And again, she joins us right now. Monika, how you doing? I'm well. Thank you for having me.

All right. Let's talk about this race here. Democrats think that they can pick up seats held by Republicans. And so why do you think you can beat holding? So as you mentioned, Linda Coleman came as close as a Democrat has. And I do believe that's because in our district, like many districts in North Carolina, black women voters are super voters. And I think she broke down many barriers in 2018. was recruited, that was one of the major factors for me is believing that she set the tone for me to move forward, to really continue to make sure our super voters and our low propensity voters

actually had a reason to show up to the polls. And so obviously, of course, all that hard work going through the court system now reshapes these districts. And so how, first of all, how is it looking right now leading up to the primary? Of course, as opposed to the general. So right now we actually haven't had any polls run. So we don't actually know statistically where we are. But what I will say is the fact that this is an open seat and a seat that we have great likelihood of getting after the primary, because as you mentioned, the gerrymandering has happened, so this district is pretty blue. We feel very excited and really feel like the

possibility is mine, and the real pathway forward is making sure we give people a reason to get out to vote. And very similarly to what you're talking about, I would say one of the only disconcerting things we've heard is many people in North Carolina aren't showing up as much as they usually do for early voting because people are waiting to see what happens in South Carolina at the top of the ballot. And obviously, of course, we're heading into, you know, Super Tuesday is only four days after South Carolina primary. And so, again, there's still very much an unsettled race here. Very much so. And so I think what you're going to see is more people are not going to early vote and will be voting on Super Tuesday. Again, very similar to South Carolina, although we like to say we're different in North Carolina, we are still holding true to many of the older African-Americans

really were very strong Biden fans. And I think they really want to see what happens to him in South Carolina. So for me, that means our numbers are not upticking as we'd like them to for Democrat and unaffiliated voters showing up for early voting. I think we're going to see a surge on Super Tuesday. What are the issues that you are focused on to appeal to Democrats to turn them out in this primary? So one of the things about Wake County is we're the fastest growing community county. We're the 15th largest school district in the country. And we're noted in many magazines as the best place to work, live, and play. And one of the things is ensuring that every single person in this district has the same ability to be successful and thrive. And so we're

talking about what does economics look like outside of the tech field, pharmaceutical field, but how do we really build new green jobs here? And I think that's what people are wanting us to talk about. The second piece, of course, is health care. Without a shadow of a doubt, we're in the South. We've seen a lot of our hospitals close or buyouts. And so people really care about the accessibility to health care in addition to health care coverage. All right. Monika Johnson-Holster, we certainly appreciate it. Good luck.

Thank you very much. Thanks for having me. All right, folks, got to go to a break. We'll be back on Roland Martin Unfiltered, broadcasting live from Charleston, South Carolina. Tonight's Democratic National Debate. Back in a moment. Mike Bloomberg is the only Democratic presidential candidate that has a real plan for black youth and education. It's called the Greenwood Initiative. We'll make public college tuition free for all low income students.

We'll forgive college loans for students who were exploited by failed for-profit colleges. Mike knows investing in our teachers is investing in our children. We'll also recruit more black and Latino teachers as we did in New York City because studies show they can make all the difference. And we'll also invest much more in heavily historically black colleges and universities because many of the HBCUs are struggling. And the first step to achieving generational wealth is taken in the classroom. We'll incentivize state and localities to create financial literacy classes. Mike will get it done. Visit MikeForBlackAmerica.com to learn more.

There are concrete proposals that we can afford and that we can get done, and we will. I'm Mike Bloomberg, and I approve this message. Paid for by Mike Bloomberg 2020. our daily digital show. There's only one daily digital show out here that keeps it black and keep it real as Roland Martin Unfiltered support the Roland Martin Unfiltered daily digital show by going to RolandMartinUnfiltered.com. Our goal is to get 20,000 of our fans contributing 50 bucks each

for the whole year. You can make this possible. RolandMartinUnfiltered.com. Well, good day, everyone. I am Erica Savage-Wilson, the host and founder of Savage Politics. And I want to share with you one of the most laudable figures for me in black history, none other than the incomparable Miss Fannie Lou Hamer. Miss Fannie Lou Hamer hails out of Rueville, Mississippi, and at the age of 44 years old,

attended a voters workshop and got involved in the movement through SNCC. Just two years later, Ms. Hamer, along with other ecstatic people excited about voters' rights, went to a workshop in South Carolina. On their way back from South Carolina June 9, 1963, they were accosted by white state patrol officers. later had me weeping angrily as I listened to the audio of Ms. Hamer recounting her beating, a ruthless, merciless beating by two jailers and a white state patrol officer. Fast forward to one year later, Ms. Hamer, having endured trauma to her kidney, to her eyes, and to her legs, gave riveting testimony at the Democratic National Convention before the Credentials Committee on August in 1964.

At that convention, Ms. Hamer spoke with such conviction that even the impotent attempt by then-President Lyndon B. Johnson to hail a press conference to try to move away attention from what Ms. Hamer was saying about two very important things, voters' rights and the state-sanctioned abuse that she endured could not be thwarted. Ms. Fannie Lou Hamer died in 1977, but her legacy, her power, her connection lives forward.

So I say this to you and offer something that Ralph Ellison said around, there are few things in the world as dangerous as sleepwalkers black America wake up and welcome to your new era the civil rights so shocking video on social media today of a young black girl, six years old, who threw a temper tantrum in the classroom, ends up being arrested by cops, put in a patrol car and fingerprinted.

Look at this shameful, despicable video. Let's go. Your grandma's gonna come pick you up, okay? Hello, hello, I was here at the school. I just got here. Hi. Come on, let's go. No, please let me go. Okay, come on. You can tell me what happened in the car, okay? Okay. I'm gonna go. Okay.

Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay.

Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Come on, let's go. No, please let me go. Okay, come on. You can tell me what happened in the car, okay? I don't want to go to the police car.

You don't want to? No, please. You have to? No, please. You have to. No, please. Give me a second. Get your hands off me. I don't want to do this. No.

Please. Please. Please. Please. Please. Please. Please. Please.

Please. Please. Please. Please. Please. Please. Please. Please. Please. Please. please please please please

please let me go no no help me please appreciate it call me if you need something okay I'm watching this video Appreciate it. Call me if you need something. Okay.

I'm watching this video. Y'all took... Was that cop black? It looked like it was. Well, wait. Are you talking about the person... Who is that? Who is... Are you talking about the one...

The cop who was sitting here walking... Well, it only... The cop who was walking... The cop who was handcuffing her and putting her in the car. Well, the name said Ramos, so possibly, but that sounds like a Latinx name, so I'm not sure. The person filming definitely

was. I don't give a damn. That's a punk-ass cop who should have enough damn sense to say, I'm not going to sit here and handcuff a damn six-year-old girl because she threw a temper tantrum in the classroom that's some straight bullshit well first who called the police right I mean the teacher the principal who called the police in the first place yeah and you know what

Roland I because we didn't know no this is this is the bullshit happening in these schools where you got these punk-ass teachers and principals who don't know how to handle a situation. A kid who's six throws a temper tantrum. You don't call the goddamn cops to handcuff her, to handcuff her, to put her in the back of a police car, to fingerprint her. This is a traumatic experience for a six-year-old girl. Yeah, I couldn't even finish watching that. But we've had these conversations before, and I would not be surprised, is that they were following a protocol. Of course, I don't agree with it, but they were following a protocol. And it reminds me of the conversation we were just having either this past week or the prior one where the student, it was, she was admitted.

To a psych ward. Yeah, to a psych ward because that's what the policy said that they could do. And I imagine that this is another example of that. Ridiculous. It's egregious. I mean, it's just, and to hear the child crying, of course, it just rips at your heart. But there needs to be a policy change. And I would not be surprised if they were just following whatever the protocol was. And we do know, even if the- No, no, no, no, no, no, no. Hell no, no, no, no, hell no. And look, for y'all who keep hitting me saying don't cuss, let me be real clear.

Fuck that. Oh, my gosh. If I'm a cop, I'm going to sit here and say, I am not going to handcuff a six-year-old child and have her fingerprinted. If I'm that cop, I'm saying I'm not doing it. No. Not doing it. Yeah, I'm saying I'm not doing it. No. Not doing it.

Yeah, I mean, I totally... Not six years old. Yeah, I... Six years old. Yeah, I agree with you, but I think that's probably the... It's probably protocol, and the officer going there probably knew... No!

...that that's something that they could do. I don't agree with it, so let's be clear about that. It's not something that I agree with, but that's probably the protocol down there for whatever crazy reason. Hell. I don't agree with it, so let's be clear about that. It's not something that I agree with, but that's probably the protocol down there for whatever crazy reason. I don't care. I don't care, Michael. I'm not doing it. Right, Roland. It's absolutely absurd. When the police officer got to the school, he said he should say to the principal or teacher, whoever, I'm not dealing with this. You guys deal with this. The officer, I don't care what the protocol, what it says,

there's nothing in any bylaw that says you handcuff a six-year-old child and bring him down to process them. That can't be protocol. The protocol is the cop sometimes has to use his own or her own judgment and say, you

know what, principal or madam teacher or Mr. Teacher, I'm not doing this. You all need to figure this out. I have other stuff I need to do. Kelly, this crap, and see, I can what makes this so sickening is here you are, a child

six and she's begging you? That girl, that memory ain't going away. Of being in the back of a police car, of being handcuffed. And I know people who are saying, hey, teach your children better. Look, I have been in many schools. I have seen little as white boys and little as white girls throw temper tantrums, Latino, black, whatever. A six-year-old kid, that's what some do. They throw temper tantrums, but you don't call the damn cops. What you do is you sit their ass in a room by themselves and say, sit here and yell and scream act a fool but guess what we ain't dealing

with you that's what you do you put them in a room you stick them in the office you don't call the cops no you don't call the cops and it's just hard for me to put my anger into words right now because i have seen firsthand situations like this and it doesn't make it any easier there is absolutely no excuse for this like i'm taking that entire video into consideration like I'm hearing the police officer put zip ties on a six-year-old I'm hearing the child scream at the top of her lungs give me a second chance as if she didn't need a first one you know what I mean like this she's a child she doesn't know how to reconcile hard situations yet she's six child. She doesn't know how to reconcile hard situations yet. She's

six years old. She doesn't know anything other than just sad, just happy, just angry, just hungry. Why? Because she's a child. And you have adults there who know this about children, who still took it upon themselves to put a child into a system that they don't even belong in. I'm not even going to say don't belong in yet. Don't belong in, period. There was no excuse for this whatsoever. There are plenty of tactics. Outside of putting the child in the room, there are plenty of tactics to mitigate a situation,

to mediate a situation, to calm a child down. And I understand how teachers don't want to be liable for putting their hands on children or whatever, but now you're liable for a six-year-old going to jail. So I would much rather have liability on me for literally picking up a child and putting them somewhere than having on my conscience calling the police on a six-year-old because a six-year-old did what a six-year-old does this is absurd this I what I would hope I would hope there would be an unleashing of protest against the police department against the school against the principal against the school district and whatever needs

to be done if this is policy change it because here's the deal i cannot recall seeing a video of a six-year-old white kid being handcuffed and put in the back of a police car and fingerprinted i'm sorry show me the video show me the body cam video that happening show me the video of that happening yeah we're rolling and i see that yeah just to say um quickly you know i i think that it probably has something to do with where that is i can't remember where the student was taken to the mental facility i can't remember florida well well yeah we go into florida no no no no no no that no no that's a separate case no but i'm saying these no this is a yeah but but my point is that that's a separate case. No, but I'm saying these... No, this is a... Yeah, but my point is that...

No, that's a separate... No, no, no, no. That's a separate case from this one. I'm speaking specifically of this one. Yeah, but my point is that these type of policies are in place. I totally agree with everyone that this is ridiculous that a six-year-old would actually be handcuffed at all. But I compare it to...

No, no, no, no, no, no, no, Malik. No, Malik, Malik. The case you're mentioning that we discussed last week, that's a state law that allows that. I don't know that there's a state law in Florida that says if a child throws a temper tantrum, you are to call the cops. Yeah. And then that child is to be arrested and fingerprinted. Yeah, well, I'm not arguing in favor of it. Like, I agree with everyone that it's ridiculous.

What I'm saying is that— No, what I'm saying is, do you know for a fact it's a policy? You keep saying it's policy. Do you know for a fact that this is the protocol? I've never said that. I've never actually said that it was policy. What I've said is that it's very well that it could be policy. If they have the— Well be policy. If they have the

whoever the person that Again, policy, but Malik, policy and law are two separate things. Right, but again, if there's a law that mandates this being, okay, we get that. A policy can actually be ignored

as Michael said. If you're a cop, you don't have to follow policy. Sure, but we're talking about, as Michael said. Yeah, but... If you're a cop, you don't have to follow a policy. Sure, but we're talking about discretion at this point. Again, just to make it clear, I think that it's ridiculous that an officer had to be called to the school. I compare it to... Well, I don't compare it.

I volunteer at a private school, a private school for boys here in D.C. Well, they actually have... So it would not have happened at that school if for no other reason that they actually have an on-site therapist who's there every single day. So when the kids, when there's some type of behavioral issue, they literally go to a room where, and it's literally a sofa in there, so it would not have happened there. I don't want to give the impression that

I agree with it at all. What I'm saying is that even though we're talking about discretion, it's probably something that's written in policy anywhere. As ridiculous as it is, it's probably something that's written in policy somewhere. This is the fundamental problem when you talk about a school to prison pipeline. This is a perfect example of what we're talking about, of a school to prison pipeline. And Mike Bloomberg is the only Democratic presidential candidate who understands that wealth creation and the current racial wealth gap is linked to past racism and has a plan to address the impact on Black America. The crimes against Black Americans still echo across the centuries, and no single law can wipe out that slate clean. The time has come, I think,

to fully commit ourselves to acknowledging our history and righting our country's wrongs, and that's exactly what I will do as president. It's called the Greenwood Initiative. One, we will help a million more black families buy a house. Two, we will double the number of black-owned businesses. Three, we will help black families triple their wealth over the next 10 years to an all-time high. Mike will get it done.

Visit mikeforblackamerica.com to learn more. There are concrete proposals that we can afford and that we can get done, and we will. I'm Mike Bloomberg, and I approve this message. Paid for by Mike Bloomberg 2020. All right, folks, the coronavirus is actually spreading all across the world. Donald Trump's administration has come under a withering attack because Trump has reportedly said that, well, actually, he said that, hey, this thing is going to work itself out. And he's told his folks, don't go overboard because he doesn't want it affecting the economy and its reelection chances. But on Capitol Hill, Republican Senator Kennedy out of Louisiana was not having it when it came to the directive of

Homeland Security, who was not answering questions when it came to how they are working to combat coronavirus. Watch this. How many cases of coronavirus do we have right now in the United States? Well, we have 14 cases plus an additional, I believe it's 20 or 30 some odd cases that we have repatriated back into the U.S. from a number of cruise ships. And how many are you anticipating? Again, we're working with HHS to determine that. How many are you anticipating? We do anticipate the number will grow. I don't have an exact figure for you, though.

Do you have an estimate? Is someone modeling that? Do you have any way of guessing? Again, HHS, through their medical professionals. Well, yes, sir, but you're head of Homeland Security, and your job is to keep us safe. Yes, sir. Do you know today how many the experts are predicting? We only know that, again, we anticipate those numbers to grow in the U.S. That's why we're making sure that our operations again at our airports, land ports and elsewhere are flexible. But you can't tell us how many your models are anticipating? No, Senator. Again, I would defer you to the Health and Human Services for that.

Don't you think you ought to check on that? We will. As the head of Homeland Security? Absolutely. And again, we have task force members that are working this on every day. I'm all for committees and tasks. So we're coordinating with them to make sure that our operation... You're the secretary. I think you ought to know that answer. I understand that. How is the coronavirus transmitted?

Through a variety of ways. Obviously, human to human, we've seen that. And again, we're making sure that those procedures as they come into the U.S. are medically screened so that we can identify those things. How is it transmitted? A variety of different ways, Senator. Tell me what they are, please. Again, human to human is what we've primarily seen. Well, obviously human to human, how?

Being in the same vicinity. Physical contact is usually what we've seen from the medical cases that we've seen here in the same vicinity, physical contact is usually what we've seen from the medical cases that we've seen here in the US. We've had several I think two to three human to human cases that have showed up here in the US. So it's those that are closest to those individuals that have that human contact. I'm not sure. What's the mortality rate so far? Worldwide.

Worldwide I believe it's under 2%. How much under 2%? I'll give you an exact figure. I'll check with cdc on their monitoring the worldwide mortality rate and I can get that for you. But you don't know the mortality rate today? It changes daily, Senator.

Well, I understand that. What's the average since we discovered the virus? Again, it's under 2%. It was as high as 3. Numbers were recalculated based on reporting from China. Between 1.5% and 2%? It's between 1.5% and 2%. Okay.

What's the mortality rate for influenza over the last, say, ten years in America? It's also right around that percentage as well. I don't have that offhand, but it's right around two percent as well. You're sure of that? It's a little bit. Yes, sir. Okay. Do we have enough respirators?

To my knowledge, we do. I'm focused on making sure that our operators at DHS make sure that they have the protective equipment. I know HHS, as part of the supplemental, I know. We just heard testimony that we don't. Testimony from? In a briefing. Okay. So you're head of Homeland Security.

For medical professionals or for, sorry, I don't understand the question. You're head of Homeland Security. For medical professionals or for, sorry, I don't understand the question. You're head of Homeland Security. Do we have enough respirators or not? For patients, I don't understand the question. For everybody, every American who needs one who gets the disease. Again, I would refer you to HHS on that. Mr. Secretary, you're supposed to keep a second. My budget supports the men and women of the Department of Homeland Security. You're the secretary of Homeland Security. Yes, sir. And you can't tell me if we have enough respirators. What I would tell you is that the budget, my budget, our operations are focused not only on the men and women of DHS making sure they're protected to do their jobs to screen individuals coming in. We're working with HHS, CDC and their budget You don't know the answer do you?

to ensure that they have enough medical equipment. Do we have enough face masks? We, uh, for the Department of Homeland Security we do. I'm not asking for the Department of Homeland Security. Are you looking? I'm asking for the American people. For the entire American public? Yes.

No, I would say probably not. Okay, how short are we? I don't have that number offhand, Senator. I will get that for you. Okay, but I want to be sure I understand. Somebody is doing modeling on how many cases were anticipated. You're just not aware of that. You're asking me a number of medical questions that CDC and HHS are focusing on. I'm asking you questions because you're Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security,

and you're supposed to keep us safe. Yes, sir. And you need to know the answers to these questions. And how far away are we from getting a vaccine in several months? Well, that's not what we just heard testimony about. OK, who's on first here? HHS is what's on federal agency for the Corona virus response response. You're telling me we're months away saying that your testimony as Secretary of Homeland Security. What I have been told by HHS and CDC, yes. And have you probed that to make sure that's accurate? Yes. We continue every day. We have task force meetings with those individuals and elsewhere talking about a number of these.

Well, your numbers aren't the same as CDC's. Then I would I would certainly defer CDC on our medical questions. Well don't you think you ought to contact them and find out whether you're right or we're right. We're in contact with them every day on this on our task force. But you don't know why you have a discrepancy. I would refer you to the CDC on specific questions. I'm going to hush here.

You're you're supposed to keep us, and the American people deserve some straight answers on the coronavirus. And I'm not getting them from you. I disagree. That's all I have, Madam Chair. Woo, Michael. Republican Senator Kennedy was not too happy. I would think that the Secretary of Department of Homeland Security might want to be able to have those answers because this thing could spread real fast. He obviously needs to tighten up his responses. There's no question about that.

But I also think, Roland, as you know, I think there's some politics being played to by Senator Kennedy. He is a staunch supporter of 45. So I think he wants to show that he can be tough on the administration. And this is an easy issue to be tough on the administration on related to health. 45, 45, 45 has already made some crazy statement that once it gets warm, it'll be better and everything will be fine. That's not what the coronavirus is all about. So I think there are a lot of different things playing on this, but I'm glad he questioned them. I'm glad he's pushing him to the wall. He should have the answers to the questions.

Maybe they should have a different kind of panel up there. It seems to me they should also have the CDC head next to him. They should have HHS there as well. He's not capable of answering these kinds of questions, whether he thinks he should or not. Well, actually, here's why I'll push back on that, Kelly. The reality is this here. Senator Kennedy was tough on several of Trump's judicial nominees, and one of them, who was so dumb he couldn't answer questions, actually pulled out. And so even though he's a staunch Trump supporter, I mean, bottom line is,

if I'm a senator, even if you're a Republican, you care about whether or not America is going to die because of the coronavirus. Sure. And his questions were valid. I just don't think those were, that was the specific person to ask questions to. I mean, you have a surgeon general, you got heads of CDC, you have people who are actually working to try and solve this matter every single day as opposed to being the acting secretary of Homeland Security. So I don't even know how long he's been there, you know, because it still says acting. Well, hold up. OK, first of all, you got to remember, Donald Trump is afraid of any of his people getting confirmed by the Senate. And so it's a whole bunch of acting people all around the administration. And that's a fair point. But the fact of the matter remains, if he has the same type of track record as the rest of the secretaries,

he might not even be all that well versed in this issue anyway, anyhow, regardless if it was coronavirus or not. Just as a caveat, I wish people would stop calling it the coronavirus because the coronavirus is a general term. This actually has a specific strain of coronavirus because in all is a general term this actually has a specific uh strain of coronavirus because in all actuality common cold is also a coronavirus so right now if you really think about it what's happening right now is the common cold that you know you just can't kick that is actually truly deadly that has no treatment for it so that was that's that's just a caveat there okay so what so what's so what's the name so what's the name of the strain uh p p c something so what do we

call it let me let me check well that's why ain't nobody that's why ain't nobody calling that killing p p something something they're calling that covoid dash 19 is the official name for this that's why that's why they not calling it. You're not walking around going, what is it, Cobalt? Co-who? Cowboy-19. Co-who? Don't play me.

No, I'm saying. You was like, Co-roll, Co-something-19. Cowboy-19. It's a good bet Kelly not going to call it that. That's why they're going with coronavirus. I'm just saying. I mean, but the more you say it, the more people will actually say it. So instead of just going for the easy route of saying something general.

Actually, they not. Okay. No, it's a good bet they not. I'm just saying, I mean, I'm just saying, I mean, you actually don't call something by a technical name. You do want to call something that way. It's easier for folks to actually remember. Melik, bottom line is this here, Donald Trump has been

way too flippant about this here. He better take this thing seriously because it could reach a pandemic real quick. Yeah, so two things. I think that the, I agree with Michael and Kelly, they actually should have had the secretary of HHS or the director of CDC there to really answer those more detailed questions.

Whatever information that the senator got in a briefing, it's not guaranteed that the head of Homeland Security would have been privy to whatever information that he actually shared. Actually, you're wrong because this Homeland Security actually said in that six minute clip that he's a part of the group that's actually sharing the information. So he would know. Oh, well, I mean, I didn't hear that part, but the second part that I want to- That's what he said. No, he actually said it. Okay.

Well, the second part to my point here is that this is something that really happens in every administration. I think it was probably back in 2014, Obama was roundly criticized for his response to the Ebola crisis. If you remember, I think there was, there was, you know, there were talks that, you know, this was under wraps, but then there was a case where a nurse was treating a Liberian patient in Dallas, I believe. And so the administration got a lot of criticism for that. The administration itself admitted that it had been slow to respond to it. So I do know that this is something that happens before administrations. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no Disease Control. No, there's no comparison to that. And hold up, I'm not done. And then the Ebola outbreak did not hit multiple countries. We are at the point right now that they're saying they may only have three months to determine whether

the Tokyo Olympics will actually take place this summer. This thing, unlike Ebola, this thing is impacting multiple countries very quickly. And so this is a much different situation than that. Yeah, well, I don't necessarily, yeah, I mean, the mass effect of it, you know, yeah, that may be different. What I'm talking about is how we criticize the federal government's response to these type of crises. And the Obama administration was criticized roundly for their response to the Ebola crisis. It didn't mean that the Obama administration was not actually doing things to, you know, inform the public, but the Obama administration itself acknowledged that it was slow to respond. So my point is just saying that when it comes to these type of issues, the federal government generally is blamed for it. I don't think that, you know, for as far as the President Trump is concerned, I'm pretty sure that he was

told that he can't go out there and create a crisis. If you actually look at what happened today when the CDC released their statement, when the CDC released their... When the CDC actually released a statement... This is the same guy who used the Sharpie talking about a hurricane that's gonna hit Alabama and the National Weather Service had to change their whole deal because they didn't want to get criticized. He's known to say stuff without checking with anybody, Mellick. Well sure, but in this case I have to give him credit for not driving the fear about it. Because if you actually look at what he said, he essentially said, hey, everything is going to be okay. Now, we know that as far as the administration is concerned, they're not going to say, well, everyone should be concerned that there is a

panic because those are things that really do create panic. What I was saying about the CDC, when they released their statement, when they, when the CDC released their statement today, the market tanked. And so those are things that presidents really are concerned about, whether it's Donald Trump or any other president, those are things that they take into consideration and how they respond to these types of crises. Malik, Malik, the market tanked yesterday and no statement was released because the coronavirus, or I'm sorry, Kobo, Coho-19, Kelly. This thing is actually a global issue. And so it goes beyond just the U.S. Bottom line is this here. The questions Senator Kennedy is asking are critically important issues because if this thing spreads and it spreads quickly, you do want to be able to know how many breathing machines, how many masks. As he said, how

are you gaming this out? And the reality is, as the acting secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, this also, Homeland Security is called securing the homeland. It's not just a military issue because you also have to deal with chemical or biological warfare as well. So we'll certainly see what happens. But I appreciate Senator Kenney. I don't care who's Republican asking those questions because they need to be answered. All right, folks, we're here in Charleston, South Carolina. As you see behind me, you see behind me, of course, you see the lights beyond us, Gileard Center, where the debate is taking place. We're out here.

You've got protesters who are over here. You hear them playing music and things along those lines. And so you have all the media here. And so when you go into that center, as you get closer, that's where the debate is taking place. It's going to be at 8 p.m. Eastern. So taking place in about an hour and 15 minutes. Airing on CBS, simulcast on BET. Among those who are going to be asking questions will be five moderators, including Gayle King as well as Bill Whitaker. So five of the five people moderating, two are African-American.

The whole time we've been here, we've seen digital signs for Tom Steyer coming by here, just passing by all the folks who are here. And the cameras are here. And so you see all the media stands there as well. And so it's going to be a big night. The last debate, folks, was on NBC. Twenty million people watched that debate and millions more streamed it as well. And so lots of anticipation. This is the first time this debate, of course,

taking place in a state where African-American voters have a significant number of the votes. Upwards of 60% of the people voting in South Carolina will be African-American. Voting is taking place on this Saturday. And so this is a crucial debate. And also, of course, the debate is Saturday. Then you've got Super Tuesday next Tuesday. I want to thank our panel for being there. I've got to go because we've got to go inside and get ready for the debate. And also, of course, the debate is Saturday. Then you've got Super Tuesday next Tuesday. I want to thank our panel for being there.

I've got to go because we've got to go inside and get ready for the debate. We're certainly going to have coverage on this tomorrow. We'll be broadcasting tomorrow from Charleston, South Carolina as well. Don't forget, if you want to support Roller Martin Unfiltered, please go to RollerMartinUnfiltered.com. Join our Bring the Funk fan club. Your dollars make it possible for us to be able to broadcast on location, remote, from places like this. This is why it possible for us to be able to broadcast on location, remote, for places like this.

This is why it matters for you to support what we do, to remain an independent media source, speaking to our issues and our concerns as well. All right, folks, I'm going to see you guys tomorrow. We'll talk about the debate. I want to see your comments on social media as well. Be sure to join our YouTube channel, subscribe to it, and also turn your notifications on on Periscope, Facebook, and YouTube, so anytime we go live, you're notified when we go live.

All right, folks, I gotta go. Holla! I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Glott. And this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast. Yes, sir. Last year, a lot of the problems of the drug war. This year, a lot of the biggest names in music and sports. This kind of star-studded a little bit, man. We met them at their homes.

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