#RolandMartinUnfiltered - 5.1 Armed men storm MI state house; Biden denies sex assault claims; Katie Couric, Denzel drama

Episode Date: May 4, 2020

5.1.20 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: WTH?!? Armed men storm Michigan State House in protest of stay-at-home orders; Is it time to reopen the country amid COVID-19 pandemic? Biden denies sex assault claims; Small businesses are still left out of the Payroll Protection Program; Trump's new press secretary proclaims: 'I will never lie to you'; Katie Couric, Denzel interview drama; Buckle up ... Comedian Godfrey is in the house. Support #RolandMartinUnfiltered via the Cash App ☛ https://cash.app/$rmunfiltered or via PayPal ☛https://www.paypal.me/rmartinunfiltered #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.

This is an iHeart Podcast. that Governor Gretchen Whitmer lifted a stay-at-home order to blocking her door. Y'all know doggone well some black folks did this. They've been jailed. Why is the White House refusing to allow Dr. Anthony Fauci to testify before Congress? Yeah, they're actually doing that. Vice President Joe Biden goes on MSNBC to talk the sexual assault allegation against him.

He says, did not happen. Also small businesses, folks, impacted by the payroll protection program. We have an expert here to help you navigate through that process. Trump's new press secretary gives her first news briefing in eons. Let's see what kind of craze existed today.

And Katie Cork is talking about an interview she did 15 years ago when Denzel Washington had her shook. I read the transcript. Why, Katie? Plus comedian Godfrey is here for a little fun. It's time to bring the funk and roll the mic on the filter. Let's go. He's got it.

Whatever the piss, he's on it. Whatever it is, he's got the scoop, the fact, the fine. And when it breaks, he's right on time And it's rolling, best belief he's knowing Putting it down from sports to news to politics With entertainment just for kicks He's rolling, yeah It's Uncle Roro, y'all

Yeah, yeah It's rolling, Martin, yeah. Yeah, yeah. Rolling with Rollin' now. Yeah, yeah. He's funky, he's fresh, he's real the best. You know he's Rollin' Martin now. Yeah, yeah. Rollin' with Rollin' now. Yeah, yeah.

He's funky, he's fresh, he's real the best. You know he's Rollin' Martin now. Yeah, yeah. Rollin' with Rollin' now. Yeah, yeah. Folks, as of today, 1,112,000, 1,112,341 confirmed cases of coronavirus. Folks, 64,914 folks have died, 157,000 are recovering. In his daily briefing, Governor Andrew Cuomo reminds us where New York is when it comes to the high infection rates. 30 days ago, spread was, coronavirus was rising.

Shelter-in-place goes in. It changes what happens in New York. Now they have seen a decrease in deaths and also hospitalizations. Here's the governor. Today's day 62. Feels like just yesterday. Before we look at the numbers, I just want people to recall the context for these numbers and remember what we have accomplished. We were faced with a situation where the infection rate and those numbers were going straight up

That was only 30 days ago That we saw the number of cases a number of people coming into hospitals the infection rate everything was going straight up That number would have just continued to go straight up and that's why all the projections national projections state projections local projections turned out to be incorrect excuse me because they were all believing that that line was going to continue to keep going up what happened is New Yorkers, Americans, changed reality, literally changed reality. They literally changed the path of the virus spread and reversed the spread. And that's what the closed down procedures did. That's what the masks have done, that's what the socially distancing has done.

And New Yorkers and all across this country, you saw that number change from that up trajectory to the downward trajectory. That shift in the trajectory reduced by about 100,000 the number of New Yorkers who would have been hospitalized. 100,000 hospitalized. To be hospitalized, you have to be seriously ill. A portion of those 100,000 would have passed away. So all this inconvenience, all this turmoil for what? To keep 100,000 people out of hospitals. Michigan Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer lifts the stay. First of all, you got these folks who are demanding she lift the stay at home order

because of coronavirus. They actually blocked her door, carrying automatic weapons. Yo, these people are nuts, y'all. Go ahead and play. Go ahead and play. We are the firstborn! We are the firstborn! We are the firstborn! We are the firstborn! We are the firstborn! We are the firstborn! We are the firstborn!

We are the firstborn! Now you got Donald Trump who's saying that the government should negotiate with him. Negotiate with terrorists? Really? Robert Petillo, Executive Director of Rainbow Push Coalition, Peachtree Street Project. Rob Richardson is the host of Disruption Now podcast, Caleb Bethea, communication strategist. They all join me. Robert, really?

Why the hell should the governor of Michigan listen to any one of these fools? Well, what we have to understand is there's nothing to negotiate. There's nothing to talk about. We have medical experts. We have epidemiologists. We have political leadership who are listening to them.

And then we have crazy people with guns. There is nothing to negotiate. We have to follow the procedures which have been working. What we will see right now, and let's understand, remember earlier this month when President Trump and Fauci projected that between 120,000 and 250,000 would die. Best case scenario, if we follow mitigation. We've been following mitigation, and we are at right around 65,000. We'll probably be at 70,000 by Monday. That projection went through August. At the exact rate we're going right now,

we'll be at 130,000 by August. So we're right in line with the projections as they are. And the idea that people want to break that now so they can go, I think there were signs saying, I want to get my hair cut. I want to get something to eat. I want to go to restaurants. Well, that's all well and good for you, but let's understand that we don't do these mitigation tactics and do not do what we know is working. Then those numbers will not be in the hundreds of thousands, but they will be in the millions. And then we will see the spike in infections, the overwhelming of hospitals, the doomsday scenario that we've been avoiding to this point. And there is nothing to negotiate. We know what's working and we have

to continue doing it. Rob, seriously, look, these people, I thought America, federal government always said we do not negotiate with terrorists. These are domestic terrorists. Yeah, they are domestic terrorists. And there's been a president said, if you remember, I think it's Cliven Bundy, that might be his name, the guy who stood up, the rancher that stood up to the federal. You're talking about people's lives and they're not obviously respecting social distancing. They're all up in people's face with guns and you don't have an absolute right to infringe upon other people's rights just because you have a second amendment right. You have a first amendment right. You do not have the right to put others in harm. You don't have the right to threaten people. I think they've crossed the line and an example

needs to be set and the governor needs to be very clear that these people are Not abiding by the law. This is not protest. It's not how you protest This is this is they are trying to intimidate and they shouldn't be allowed to do it Kelly When you see what's happening first of all? Why would the government Michigan take any advice from Donald Trump on anything dealing with her state is beyond me. I don't even want to comment on that part because there is no rationale behind it. But what I will say to these people who claim to be protesters,

like my colleagues have been saying, they really are terrorists because they are protesting against their lives being saved, which is ironic because I promise you a majority of them will consider themselves pro-lifers. So for the government to actually be the most actively pro-life they've been in trying to save our lives during this pandemic, for this faction of people to protest against that because of their own selfish reasons, and that's exactly what it is. This is purely selfish. You're not talking about going back to work. You're not talking about, you know,

making money and having your livelihood back. You want a haircut. You want some food. You want to sit down in a park somewhere. None of that stuff is relevant if you're dead. And your government is actually trying to prevent that from happening for you. So go back home, sit down and relax and let the government do its job because they can't do their job with you there. The thing here, Robert, that we're looking at, just very simple is we are looking at individuals who are nonsensical taking the lead from Donald Trump talking about take back these states he wants anarchy he wants these images because for him it's oh my people are going against that Democrat, these blue state people. That's what he wants. He called for, again, liberate Minnesota, Michigan, Illinois, Virginia, Illinois. You didn't hear him say liberate some of these red states. There's a reason.

Well, you know, in addition to that, I think we can't help but notice the hypocrisy between the way that protesters were treated in Baltimore, how protesters were treated in Ferguson, how the NFL protesters who took a knee were treated by these very same people when they were protesting against governmental injustice. And now these are very fine Hyde aspect to President Trump. When he's in front of the cameras, when Fauci is there, when Dr. Birx is there, when the officials are there to constrain him in, he can listen to the information. But then in the deep recesses of night when it's just him and Twitter alone together, he cannot help but go back to being an Internet troll and conspiracy theorist. And these are his people. These are the people who don't believe the virus numbers, don't believe the death numbers. This is all a conspiracy by the deep state of Nancy

Pelosi to hurt President Trump's reelection. This level of nonsense puts us all at risk. I don't know what's more scary, the far, far right who believe these crazy things, or the far, far people on the far left who believe that this is a 5G conspiracy by Bill Gates and Oprah to kill us all. We have to get back to believing regular scientific information, do what we know works. We are very good as Americans

of sitting in the house and watching TV. Let's keep doing that. You spoke of Dr. Fauci. Let's talk about that. The White House is refusing to allow him to testify before the House Appropriations Committee regarding the coronavirus. They literally said today, nope, we'll figure out a time later for him to testify. Really, Rob?

Yeah, look, look, this is, you know, to my friend Robert, you know, I love him. But, like, there are crazies on the left and on the right. But right now, the only crazies that are going with guns are the crazies on the right. And the ones that are putting people at risk are the crazies on the left and on the right. But right now the only crazies that are going with guns are the crazies on the right. And the ones that are putting people at risk are the crazies on the right. And because they have a leader, to your point, Roland, that is willing to do anything. And I actually don't want to give him the benefit of the doubt. I think this is very strategic. I think he wants to go out there and rile people up, get people upset.

He thinks it's the only thing he has to really help him win reelection because he can't. He was going to run on the economy. He run on that certainly can't run on stable leadership he certainly can't so i don't know his the only thing he has is to make sure that he enrages his base and make them find up this made-up reason as i where i do agree with robert that he's trying to make up some conspiracy but that's that's who the man is he's been that way since the very beginning uh so he's doing this with dr foushee because he doesn't want to do anything that might make him look bad. But there's nothing he can do to prevent him from looking bad. He's a bad president. He's a bad leader. He just needs to go. Kelly, look, he's already refused to allow so many other people from testifying.

This is no shock at all. And so this is business as usual in this administration. I mean, this entire administration for the past four years has proven how corrupt it is, how inept it is, how, frankly, dumb it is. So it's not surprising to me that basically the smartest person in the room right now that, but at this point, I'm just gated. And I'm ready for him to leave office. Hopefully, it's in 2020. But we need to really just put politics aside at this moment. Actually, hold tight one second. Hold on one second.

I can barely hear you. Your signal is breaking up. Guys, y'all go ahead and get that fixed. I want to go back to Robert here. Robert, again, this is what happens when you have no respect at all for another branch of government. That's what's going on here. To say Dr. Fauci can't testify is just ridiculous. It's just ridiculous. Well, I think in addition to that, the problem that the administration has is that Fauci is not going to carry the party line. You can go back 20 years and see Fauci going back and forth with Obama when he was in the Senate. You can go back 30 years and see Dr. Fauci going back and forth in the 80s on the AIDS epidemic.

He is not a partisan individual. He's not going to buy into the party line. So they do not want him saying these scientific facts, which are hydrochloroquine is not going to save anybody. It does not work. That does not agree with the party line. We do not need to be opening the country back up without having a vaccine, without having a treatment, without having additional medical beds,

without having the ability to handle a medical surge. That does not go with the party line. This is not going to be over over the summer. What we've seen in equatorial regions and in the southern hemisphere is that warm weather does not seem to affect this the same way that it affected MERS or SARS in the early 2000s. And we will still have an outbreak going into June, July, and August. That is not what the administration wants to hear. And that's why they don't want him to testify because those medical facts, those scientific facts which exist will ruin the justification for reelection and the concept that somehow this is just going to magically go away. We are stuck with this for a long time. There is no vaccine coming. There is no treatment coming down the pipelines that will magically save us. We are stuck with this for a long time. There is no vaccine coming. There is no treatment coming down the pipelines that will magically save us. We are stuck doing this for the

foreseeable future that we can either accept that reality or we can ignore it and simply say, we're fine for a couple hundred thousand people a year dying from this. And I think many people on the right side of the aisle are okay with that. Yeah, because they don't think it's going to be them. They think it's like it's going to be somebody else. It won't be them. And I'll just say this, actually, to Robert's point, their whole talking points don't align with reality. They haven't for a while.

Here's the thing. We just notice it now because everybody's lives are at stake. So, you know, this president has never been in tune with reality. I think right now the right and those who defend Trump live in an alternate universe that has its own rules, has its own facts, has its own science that none of us understand, but it's not aligned with reality. So no one who wants to tell the truth is going to be aligned with Trump. I say that unequivocally. And, of course, it's interesting.

So yesterday he said that all these polls are lies. Now the Republicans are touting the fact that his Gallup poll numbers are back up 6 points. So yesterday he said that all these polls are lies. They're lies. Now the Republicans are touting the fact that his Gallup poll numbers are back up six points. Go to my iPad, please. You show that Trump approval is at 49 percent, plus six. Disapproval is at 47 percent, down seven. His highest numbers also among independents. I'm quite sure, Robert, this will be the latest poll that he tweets out because, you know, he only thinks his polls are fake when his numbers are not good. Well, what we all have to realize is these polls are a snapshot in time. I believe the reason these

poll numbers are up is because we're seeing more states reopen. And what our government has done a very poor job of doing is articulating to regular everyday citizens why exactly the lockdown is taking place, what the virus is, what the plan is going forward. That's why these uneven daily press briefings have been so deleterious to the messaging for normal Americans, because what most people understand is I can't go to work, I don't have any money, I don't know what we're doing. And because of that, by states opening up and it looking like things are getting better, despite there being no scientific basis for it to think that things are getting better. That's why the poll numbers are bumping up. So I think we have to look at these snapshots as just what they are, snapshots in time and not as any continuous trend.

Because as as we see the effects of the reopening of states with no real plan on dealing with the surge in medical needs, then we'll see the poll numbers change again. Rob? Yeah, I'll just say this. The fact that we look at this and see that we had, what, 30 million-plus jobs lost in about five weeks. That is unique, by the way, to the United States of America. The COVID-19 crisis is not unique. How fast our jobs are shedding are unique.

Our piss-poor response is unique to us. So if people are satisfied with this, it's fine. I mean, you're going to get more of this. So I think these are a snapshot, but I do think this will still be a competitive election. I've said that from the beginning and it shouldn't be, by the way. But I tell you what, we're going to have to fight for every vote if it unless you want to keep the same course of craziness going because if you think it's bad now it'll pick up on all types of steam if he gets re-elected this uh this whole issue in terms of as we talk about reopening but also when we talk about testing joining us right now is dr leanne j webb she's assistant professor of emergency medicine at the university of virginia school of medicine and so certainly glad we're here.

First, Dr. Webb, I just want to give our condolences to your friend, of course, the emergency room doctor out of New York who passed away earlier this week. And so it's certainly been very tough for so many of doctors having to deal with this. And we've been hearing, we've had them on the show, and we're hearing from medical people who were just overwhelmed with the onslaught

of what's happening around this country. And it's actually not slowing down. Part of the scare is that we're not doing enough testing. So everybody's like, this thing could easily ramp up that quickly. Yeah, I think you're absolutely right. Thank you for the condolences. What I will say about Dr. Breen was that she was a wonderful medical director,

which is basically my direct supervisor or boss when I was working at New York Presbyterian, the Allen Hospital. And she really was a fierce and passionate advocate both for the physicians that worked under her as well as the patients. I have many great stories about her being an advocate for patients, and she will always, in our minds, be a hero. Yeah, we're mourning her loss in a really heavy way. So in terms of the testing, we have not tested enough people yet. And so there's a lot of talk about reopening the economy. But what we know is that there have been certain guidelines set forth, some of them by the White House task force, some of them by the CDC. And what we ultimately know is that these are only guidelines. Right. And so our constitution is not set up so that the at the federal level, they hold all of the control over what's going on from a public health standpoint.

So they've issued these guidelines, and the states take it upon themselves to follow the guidelines or to not follow the guidelines. And in many cases, there are states actually skipping steps here in this phase approach to reopening, and that's very concerning, particularly what we need from a public health standpoint to break this transmission chain is, one, we need widespread testing, and we need retesting as well. Like, we need to be able to retest people. Two, we need to be able to take those sick people and isolate them in an effective manner. We need to quarantine our sick people. And then we need enough infrastructure to actually

complete the contact tracing in a meaningful way so that we can also tell those people to self-isolate, right? And so that's the basic of breaking the transmission chain of coronavirus. I understand the economic arguments. I really do. I went to business school. I understand. I understand on another level that people are suffering, including a lot of people that I know. But I do feel like in this instance, help has to come first. Well, because look, you can have all the job you want to if you are sick. And then all of a sudden, if you're dying and then now you've got to pay for funerals and all of that, it doesn't matter. You're a business owner like myself, you don't have a business if your workforce is out in the hospital trying to recuperate. Absolutely. And this is the other thing about it. Some of these guidelines are not practical. So if

you look at the CDC and the draft that they put out, they put it out specifically for certain groups, including for schools and for businesses that have vulnerable populations or vulnerable people working for them. In the school guidelines, it has things like keep the desk six feet apart. What classrooms do you know of that can really effectively keep the desk six feet apart? Which now means that you probably are going to be cutting classrooms in half. So now what happens to those other students? Yeah, so a lot of those things aren't thought through. There's another section in there which talks about what to do for employers if you have employees who are vulnerable, right?

And so if you look at the employees who are vulnerable, one, they would have to raise their hands and say, hey, I'm vulnerable. What does that do in terms of discriminating against people, right, in the workplace? That's one issue. And the other thing, if you look at the specifics of the CDC's draft, is that they say if your employee, for instance, rides public transportation to work, they should be encouraged to telecommute at home. But we know unless you're living in a place like New York City where everyone pretty much uses public transit, if you're somewhere else and you're using public transportation, nine times out of 10, it's because you can't afford that car to get you to work. And nine times out of 10, you're a frontline or essential worker who's getting lower pay. And you probably won't be able to telecommute from home. So some of the guidelines just aren't practical. So this is unfortunate. Let's see here. Questions from our panelists. Robert first, then Rob.

Absolutely. And I want to thank you so much for all the work that you and all the other medical professionals are doing. For people who are in states such as Georgia, where I am, and who are going to be going back to work and not following the guidelines as the state has set out. We haven't had two weeks of reducing numbers. The numbers are increasing day by day even now, but we're reopening our economy. What would be your advice to workers who have no choice but to go back to work or lose their job as far as protecting themselves and making sure that they can step in where the government is not providing that leadership. Yeah, so I think that's a really important point, and that kind of speaks back to what I was saying before,

like states are actually skipping these guidelines. In phase one, there's sort of a gateway criteria that the government has put out on the federal level that says that essentially the data has to be downtrending in terms of the number of new cases and deaths and actually the number of people who are tested as well, so the surveillance. Those numbers need to be downtrending for 14 days. That's what it says, and some people are skipping that. So for the worker who is forced to go to work, essentially, I'm sorry. I apologize in advance.

That is not a good position for you from a health standpoint. The things you can do would be the things that we're already pushing right now. So social distancing, which is also part of the guidelines that the government has released. So making sure you're at least six feet away if you can. However, we know that that's not really practical. Making sure you wear something that is cloth, so a mask, a scarf, some type of clothing that is covering your face and not just your mouth, because we're seeing a lot of people, I personally am seeing a lot of people out right now where they might have a mask on, but it's actually here. So it's not actually covering their nose. It needs to be covering your nose and it needs to be covering your mask, your mouth rather. It needs to be washable. So if you're wearing this to work every day,

you need to go home and wash it every day or have multiple masks that you can actually switch out. And you really need to have a serious conversation with your employer about all of the ways that you are being protected when you go back to work. And I do think that there is something that some of these non-essential businesses can learn from the essential businesses who are doing it right,

but they will have to find those businesses, employers will have to seek out those businesses locally. Rob? Yeah, I have one question. I have two comments before that, just based upon what you said, Dr. Webb. Two things, when you look at the economics of the situation, as you mentioned, and it's hard for people that don't have jobs, I actually think that's because of our lack of our government's response. Other governments don't have that. We

haven't had, as I said, 30 million layoffs in Britain, for example, where they're taking care of about 75% of the wages and directly giving businesses money for that. So I think the answer to that is if people can't work because of the health reason, that's where we're supposed to have government, but this is by design because we have an ineffective government. Two, when you talk about essential workers, there's a general strike today.

I would be remiss if I didn't bring that up with Amazon and many others that are out there that are our essential workers that are doing the work. There's all these popular commercials because the data says it's nice to thank people, but at the end of the day, it's good to pay your workers. So with that, you have workers that, let's say you have some of these essential workers or now non-essential workers that are coming back out and they get COVID-19. What would you advise them? Because

I know there's some new laws in terms of how they go about approaching their employer. Yeah. So the first thing that they need to do is really contact their primary care doctor or reach out for medical help if they have issues surrounding COVID-19. Those people should definitely not go to, you know, I say this as a health professional, knowing that some people feel like they're forced to go to work, but they should not be going to work. So if they're having a fever or cough or body aches, a sore throat, if they're sick at all and they're concerned that they could have COVID- aches, a sore throat, if they're sick at all and they're concerned that they could have COVID-19, those people should not be going to work. I hesitate

to give sort of broad advice about what to say to your employer specifically. There are some protections in place for some businesses so that people can have paid medical leave now. I don't know what that looks like going forward once people actually open up more of the economy. Supposedly about 35 states will be either fully open or partially open by the end of this week. And so that's a personal conversation to be had with employers

and probably need to get some lawyers involved as well. But definitely they should not be going to work if they feel sick. All right then. Well, Dr. Leanne J. Webb, we certainly appreciate it. Thank you so very much. Hopefully, people will listen

to the health experts and not the nuts in the White House who don't actually care about people's health, especially considering all Donald Trump has done has been three years trying to destroy the Affordable Care Act. So we appreciate it. Thanks a lot. Thank you so much.

All right, folks, got to go to a break. I'll be right here on Roland Martin Unfiltered when we come back. We got more stuff to cover, including PPP, what can be done for small businesses. We got a guest coming up for that. Katie Couric is still having flashbacks, pains, over her interview with Denzel Washington.

And Joe Biden goes on MSNBC to address the sexual assault allegations leveled against him by a former staffer. All that next right here, Roller Martin Unfiltered. You want to support Roller Martin Unfiltered? Be sure to join our Bring the Funk fan club. Every dollar that you give to us supports 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. All right, folks. Let's now talk about the PPP program, which is all about small businesses.

The Payroll Protection Program. It's been a disaster for a lot of small businesses. 95% of African American businesses, no access. 90% Latinos, same thing. People have been saying, what the heck is going on? Is there any money left? How do you even get involved with it? Is it too late?

Financial consultant Bridget Agonye joins us right now. She's also having a virtual summit tomorrow that you can be a part of that pairs bankers with small businesses. She joins us right now. Bridget, first and foremost, we hear reports that they ran out of money on Monday. And so why should folks continue to apply? What's the deal? Have they run out of money? Are they still giving out loans? What's the status? Well, I was speaking to a couple of bankers today and they're saying continue to apply. They still have money. I was talking to some regional banks today and they said keep applying. That

was today. They said it could change tomorrow, but to go ahead and apply for the money. So it's still available. One thing people don't understand is, I mean, again, the rules are different. So for instance, right here, we applied for the program and waiting back to hear if it's a yes, I was told it's a yes, but here's my whole deal until the money shows up. It ain't a yes. And you really got to go through the rules. One of the things that my CFO said is that luckily for us, we use a payroll

service. And for the folks who don't, I mean, we were able to get that documentation and then be able to submit it. Not that simple. And so I don't necessarily know if the folks who set the rules understand the reality how a lot of small businesses do business. Right. And I agree with that. I think that it's important for us to remember that there are rules to follow and that we should have documentation in place.

And I know it's hard. It's hard for us as business owners small business owners in particular but um you're right the payroll companies did have um access for our clients that we got funding for they did have a payroll service company and they were able to um access those funds and so we're hearing a lot of different things out here in the marketplace and that's really what we want to talk about in our summit is what's really happening with what the banks are saying, what the regional banks are saying. We work with a lot of regional banks. And so the regional banks and the smaller banks and the black-owned banks are saying we still have capacity. We still have money out there. You've got to have the documentation you need.

And that's really important. And so that's what our summit is about, is really giving people hope that there's still money available out there. It is, there's some. I literally, like I said, I spoke to two banks today and they're like, keep telling people to come apply. One of the other issues that we also discovered is that when you start getting down

to the nuts and bolts of this. So for instance, you cannot, you had to have full-time employees. You can't use 1099s. But if you look at most small businesses, they aren't able, I mean, look at black African Americans. There are 2.6 million black owned businesses in America. 2.5 million have one employee.

If you actually have quote, an employee, they probably are going to be a 1099. They're not gonna be a full-time employee. So, problem, an employee, they probably are going to be a 1099. They're not going to be a full-time employee. So, the problem with this bill, you can actually, you're trying to save the job of a 1099, but you can't list them on

your application. And so now what happens is, now the rules are, well, the 1099 can apply for themselves. If you were an individual who's getting the 1099, the 1099 can apply for themselves. If you were an individual who's getting the 1099, the likelihood of you trying to apply as an individual and getting it, come on, come on. It's happened, though.

People have gotten it. But this is one of those things where I think where the feedback to Congress should be, hey, while you're creating the rules, let me show you what the reality is for a business. And so I think it would be smarter if the next round, will they change it to allow the business to be able to qualify using 1099s versus having the 1099 as an individual try to apply to PPP?

Right. So, you know, I totally get that, and I understand wholeheartedly about the 1099 situation. What happens, though, is that as 1099 contractors, you're putting yourself out to be a business. That's what it is. And so it's also up to the business owner to make sure that they're classifying their people as W-2 employees. I know we're trying to minimize taxes, but somebody still has to pay those taxes.

So there's a lot to this that we need to understand as businesses and business owners because I get it. My clients have 1099 contractors. I have 1099 contractors as a CPA firm as well. And we have to play by the rules, even though the rules are hard for us. And so it's like, how do we work with our banks and the businesses that we work with, you know, to make sure that we're being able to get the resources that we need.

The money's there. 1099 contractors can apply. There's the EIDL that people could apply for. I think it's important to have the conversation not only about right now. I know people are hurting and they need funds. They need resources. And we want to bring hope with our summit to say,

hey, look, this is what you have to do. This is the rules of the game. And sometimes we just don't know the rules of the game. So if we don't know the rules of the game, then when all this legislation comes out, we're not operating accordingly. So then we get we get missed out. So it's a both and. Right. It's like, are the business owners doing what they're supposed to in terms of having their contract, their employees classified the way that they are? Are the employees or the W-2 contractors understanding what the implications are of being a 1099? So we got to look at this really holistically and making sure that everybody's doing their part. And yes, I agree, Martin. Most of our businesses are small mom and pop businesses.

But are they really businesses? You know what I mean? And so the rules are set up for businesses. And so, you know, again, for us with the summit, we want to talk about how you can establish a relationship with your bank to make sure that this doesn't happen. And that maybe you get the funding, you know, get funding before a crisis happens and being positioned for it. And are we really running our businesses like we really should? And so we want, again, it's about really, it's COVID is now, it's going to go away. We're going to, we're living a new normal. Are we prepared for the next level? Are we prepared for the next round? And that's really what we're here to talk about. That's what our summit is about is saying, look, let's do what we can. Keep applying for the money. Get help where you can get the money. And and the ideal money is still slowly coming to. I mean, part of the problem is that the banks aren't able to process as many as they have. I talked to one bank that said, let's say we process 100 banks a year.

We're doing 100 a week. So some of it is the money's just not getting out fast enough, even though they have it in their coffers, just because they're regulated. They got to make sure they meet the regulations that they're required to. The banks, because if they give this money out and there's fraud or there's other things going on, they're responsible for it. So the banks are kind of itchy about, okay, how am I going to get, how am I going to make sure that I'm not going to be stuck holding the bag because will the SBA honor the guarantee that they said they're going to give us? When are we going to get paid? So the banks are nervous too, and so they're slowly, you know,

getting through process internally so that they are able to make sure that they can serve their customers and the people that they work with. And so the big banks, what they did was they found their best customers. As we've heard stories about, you know, these Fortune 500 companies that are getting PPP money, that's who it wasn't intended for. So the wrong people are getting the money. And so like, well, then whose fault is that? What happened with the regulation that it was for people with 500 employees or less, but large corporates are getting the money? So we have to be really careful about, okay, where's the real problem? What's the real holdup? This has never happened

before. The banks have never had to do this before. The SBA has never had to do this before. So they're all, we're all trying to figure it out. We're trying to make sure that people can get money, they can survive. And I was listening to the speakers before. I mean, this is, as we all know, I'm not saying anything, no one knows, we're in unprecedented times and it's like, okay, what do we do to prepare for what life, the new normal is going to be? And we really want to encourage people that a new normal is coming and to be mindful of that and to be ready for the new normal. So, I hope that helps. All right. How can folks, what time of the summit? Where can they access it?

The summit is tomorrow from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. We have a bitly link. It's BIT.LY forward slash not your average banker summit. And we have a host of people that will be there. We have bankers. We have business owners. And we're going to be talking about how do you build relationships with your bankers, how do you grow your business, how do you remain hopeful in this time. So we're going to give great information about banking relationships, business relationships, and how important those things are. So 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. It's a free event. You must register in order to participate. And so we hope as many of your listeners and followers will come and join us and hear our conversation. I think it's going to be really helpful for a lot of people. All right, then.

We certainly appreciate it. Thank you so very much. Thank you for having me. And good luck with it. Okay, great. Thank you so much. All right, thank you so very much. Thank you for having me. And good luck with it. Okay, great. Thank you so much. All right. Thank you so very much. All right, folks. All of these things are critically important.

Now, folks, let's talk about Vice President Joe Biden. Of course, he's a Democratic presidential candidate. Gave an exclusive interview today to Mika Brzezinski on MSNBC's Morning Joe, where he addressed sexual assault allegations leveled against him by former staffer Tara Reid. Would you please go on the record with the American people? Did you sexually assault Tara Reid? No, it is not true. I'm saying unequivocally.

It never, never happened. And it didn't. It never happened. I'm going to play a little bit more of that i want to bring though uh my panel back in rob richardson uh robert patillo and kelly bethea uh and uh kelly um first of all the republicans have been really pushing this thing they've been critical of media saying you're not covering you're not covering it joe biden finally comes out and says it he now has sent a letter to the Senate saying that find any, because they can't find that. She says that she

filed a complaint, a complaint in 1993. The Senate says we have the record of the complaint. He has now sent a letter saying it's time for them. They should be, they should try to find that. Was it, should Biden now come out to address this? Was it proper? And what do you make of all of this? This is always a touchy subject, but specifically when it comes to Biden, I think it was noble of him to come forward and actually address the accusations head on

and unequivocally say that, no, he did not sexually assault this woman. I am not one to believe one person over the other until all the facts are out there. So for now, I just appreciate the fact that he's standing up for himself and Tara Reave is standing up for herself and let the chips fall where they may. This is what... Go ahead, I'm sorry. Go ahead, go ahead. Now, regarding the Republican Party harping on this and trying to discredit Biden by way of these allegations, I just find the hypocrisy is just astounding, right?

Because we have viable proof and people on the record and even Trump, admitting to sexual assault and sexual harassment. And yet, guess where he is? He's in the White House because people turned a very blatant blind eye to all of his shenanigans and all of his allegations and all of his discrepancies and said, hey, we just need a Republican in the White House. I don't care about women at this point. We just need somebody need a Republican in the White House. I don't care about women at this point. We just need somebody on our side in the White House, so let's get Trump in.

So for the Republicans to say, you know, oh, this is a disgrace, and Biden did this, and Biden did that, look at who you have in the White House. You have a legitimate sexual assaulter, misogynistic rapist in the White House, and yet you're getting on Biden off of allegations that have not been proven yet.

Here's more of Joe Biden on MSNBC. She has her employment records still. She said she filed a report with the only office that would have a report in the United States Senate at the time. If the report was ever filed, it was filed there, period. If you could speak directly to Tara Reid about her claims or anything, what would you say? I would, this never, ever happened. I don't know what is motivating her. I don't know what I don't know what's behind any of it, but it's irrelevant. It never happened. It never happened. Period. I'm not going to start questioning her, her, her, her, her, her motive.

I'm not going to get into that. I'm not going to start. I'm not going to go after Tara Reade for saying these things. It's simple. What are the facts? Do any of the things she said, do they add up? It never happened. Mr. Vice President, stay with us. We're going to take a one-minute break, and then Joe and Willie will join with us. So, Robert, so this is what we're looking at. There, first of all, Democrats are in a conundrum

because, obviously, with Kavanaugh, Christine Blasey Ford, and all these other different stories, it was believe women. Now there are people who are saying, listen to women. Lisa Milano got into some hot water. Folks will hold me to a deal. And what this is highlighting, Robert,

is the issue that people have been raising, and that is how do you handle these allegations? I look at the people in just in Fairfax, the lieutenant governor of Virginia. Look, you were one of the people who were saying that after he was accused that he should resign and clear his name. So I'll ask you, should Joe Biden resign to clear his name? Absolutely. I've been consistent on this. I think he should suspend his campaign.

He should clear up these allegations and go into the general election. Well, if he did not do anything, clear up the allegations and go into the general election with this not being an issue anymore. So how do you- So how do you- There will be good re-work in his office. So how- There should be other employees who work there. There should be other people who could testify to it. There should be Senate records. He can take a lie detector. Get all of your information together. Don't try to juggle these things at one time, because as we've seen with Justin Fairfax, that we try to do both at with it because I don't think that it benefits either the person who is being falsely accused or the accuser if you're trying to continue your job or continue with a campaign or continue for Senate confirmation while these things are swirling. So you get your information together. You present your case to the public. But, Robert, how do you do that, though, if here you are running for president, your Democratic nominee?

How do you drop out and how his deal? How do you how do you get? I'm using the standard that you laid out with Justin Fairfax, which was resigned from office and clear your name and you could come back and run again. You're Joe. So you're hold on, hold on, wait, wait, wait. So you're Joe Biden. What do you do? You say, you know what, find another nominee, and because if this isn't cleared up before the convention, find yourself another nominee.

I can't run. I need to go clear my name, and I'll come back in four years and run for president. Really? No, you remember back in 2008 when McCain and Obama both suspended their campaigns to deal with the aftermath. that was a political stunt by John McCain. Right. That wasn't a real suspending of a campaign. That was a stunt. Obama didn't do it. And his own people said it was a stunt. That's exactly what happened.

Look, you announce you're suspending the campaign. You get your information together. You clear it up. You do have to do more than one interview with Mika Brzezinski for the issue to go away. And then you can come back with a clean slate so this isn't dogging you going into the general election. Because if you don't have it cleared up, it's going to continue to be this conundrum, as people are saying. Rob, I don't see, first of all, show me, Rob, how do you clear

it up? How do you clear it up? It really isn't possible. And it is tough for the Democrats because they set a really high standard, essentially, when anyone makes an accusation, you have to pretty much just go with the accusation. I would just say, you know, most of the time, people don't lie about accusations, but that doesn't mean people don't lie. And I've actually been very consistent on this, too. So if it's, you know, he should go forward.

And if he didn't do it, and he says very resolutely he didn't, he moves forward. I mean, there's nothing else to do. As Ronald Reagan once said, by the way, when you're explaining you're losing, that would be a bad idea, what Robert is saying, because then you're suspending your campaign. If you didn't do it, you look like you are guilty.

People will assume that maybe you did do something. So I see no benefit in him suspending his campaign. He said it didn't happen, and unless there's some, and unless they have more to show that her claims actually have more proof to it, then we have to move forward because it's really hard to talk about something that happened 30 years ago absent really, really compelling evidence.

Kelly, this... And again, this is... And I'm using for fair facts. I'm using all of these different stories, and that is this here. Someone accuses you of doing something. You say, I didn't do it. Okay, how do you actually prove it happened?

Or how do you prove it didn't happen? In this case, she's saying, he took me to a side hallway in the Senate in 1993. He ran, he was vetted by the Obama people. Vice presidential vetting ain't an easy thing. None of this came up. Now we've seen reports where she said, oh, I didn't say anything because I like Obama. Then she came out last year and said he was inappropriate with me.

But then now she came out this year and said, I was raped. I was sexually assaulted. So how does the public go somewhere? Because you would think that you would have said, I was sexually assaulted last year, not just he's been inappropriate. Now, I understand the confusion. I understand how this could not be in her favor. What I will say, first of all, I've never been, to my knowledge, sexually assaulted in this manner.

I have been sexually harassed. I do know what it's like to have to hide a story and try to move on with my life without having to bring it up. That being said, I empathize with the trajectory of this story simply because we have very powerful people in play. So the fact that she went from, oh, he touched me to he raped me, I'm not necessarily concerned about that because it could be true. It could be the fact that she was trying to mitigate the accusation so that the speculation and the scrutiny on her wouldn't be as intense. Because we've seen what happens to these women in the press. We've seen what happens in the court of public opinion with these women and these potential victims, alleged victims, rather, when the facts come out in piecemeal or when they come out whole. They are the ones who are dragged apart.

They are the ones who are, you know, just harassed and muds long upon and all of these things. We just saw, what was it, last year? Kavanaugh's victim. She had everything. She had all the facts in her favor, and she still basically can never go back to the life that she lived before all those hearings because of the court of public opinion and the politicians and the press and the media just ripping her life apart. So I empathize with Tara Reid when she doesn't want the entire story out there. But all that being said,

again, there is no proof. There is nothing there outside of her word that says that Biden assaulted her in any regard. Considering that this was 30 years ago and there's no record of it, the odds are not in her favor of justice being served in any case. So with Rob's point about him resigning or stepping away from the campaign in order to do X, Y, and Z, I don't necessarily think that's a great idea either. Because again, let's just say that she is lying. I'm not saying that she is, but it does happen. If she does, if she is lying,

then he just upended his entire presidential campaign for what? So, again, we just need to see how this plays out as it's playing out. But I don't want to resort to dragging her name through the mud just because we don't know what happened, because it was 30 years ago. Right. Robert, again, so as we begin to look at this here, now you have, of course, the Democratic Party, excuse me, the Republican Party wants to make hay out of this. Now they're saying, oh, Joe, turn over this, turn over that.

I'm sorry. Of anybody who should not be talking, it's Rona McDaniel, Romney, the head of the Republican Party. It's Kellyanne Conway. It's Mercedes Schlapp. Any of them. Donald Trump has not turned over tax returns.

Donald Trump is being sued by porn stars. He's paid off porn stars. He has had numerous allegations of sexual harassment and assault against him. Really? They actually have room to talk. Well, that's exactly my point, that when you get into the situation where you're no longer believing women, well, now you lose that moral high ground to be able to attack him on those issues. Donald Trump has had 27 women accuse him of either sexual assault, sexual harassment, or all-out rape. So if you're going to say, well, we can just ignore these allegations against our person, then you can no longer say that you are the party that defends and protects the rights of women. So as I said, there are ways to protect the court of public opinion, do a lie detector test.

Bring in other people who worked in the office at the time. See if there's surveillance footage from the Senate from 1993. Bring in the people from the Senate office who would have received the complaint. Talk to the local D.C. police to find out there was a police complaint filed in 1993. Compile all the information that you can. You've got one plenty of cases in court with circumstantial information. You don't need to have this great smoking gun of information in order to clear your name, but present everything you have and compare it against your accuser and then move on with the campaign. But don't do this little first. We're going to ignore it. Then we're going to do a little interview with Mika Brzezinski. Then we're going to just hope

it goes away. Then we're going to try to change the subject, confront it head on, attack it, and then go back to campaigning. And right now, because we have COVID-19, the coronavirus that we're dealing with, this is the perfect time to be able to do that and then come back around convention time and be going

full speed ahead into the fall. So, Robert, who does that? Because here's the whole deal. He's not in the United States Senate. She hasn't filed a criminal complaint. So who does that? See, so that's the thing, Rob, and that is, who does it? Who? Go ahead, Rob.

No, look, this is all right. I think it's kind of funny when you think about how, you know, my friend Robert is talking about this. Look, Trump, it's all relative. You compare what we know about Trump. We do have a smoking gun on Trump. He's on record talking about sexually assaulting people. Exactly. So, like, this is not the same.

It's not the same. We know he said horrible things about women all the time over and over and over again. We have a lot on Trump. So these two are not you're comparing apples, not even oranges. You're comparing it to trees. These things are not close to one another. So if Biden is not able to pivot off of this, these allegations aren't the problem. It's his ability as a candidate because he can move off of this, and I don't think Trump wants to go anywhere towards this.

I would just say this is a distraction because you're failing as a leader. You want to find any way you can to distract from the poor economy, from your poor leadership and your poor response and move on. I'm going to bring in Avis Jones the Weaver, leadership strategist here. So Avis, what do you make of all of this? And again,

you have Democrats defending Joe Biden, slamming Trump. You've got Republicans who are slamming Joe Biden, slamming Trump. You got Republicans who are slamming Joe Biden, needing to be more transparent, and then they'll be hit with critical. You got feminists who were, believe women, believe women, believe women,

then it's kind of like, er, not have an investigation, listen to women. What do you make of all of this? You know, it is, on the one hand, I have to say it is absolutely ridiculous to have any Trump supporters trying to take any sort of moral high ground, given what we know about Trump in terms of his past, in terms of the dozens of accusations against him, and in terms of his own admitted behavior. But beyond that, as it relates to how the Democratic Party is handling this, and specifically, I'll say how feminists are handling it, it really now exposes the strategic ridiculousness

of the whole believe all women ideology that they were touting just a few months ago. I think the Justin Fairfax example is a great one. I just today retweeted the article that I wrote about Justin Fairfax when I made the argument then that, yes, all accusations could be taken seriously and investigated. But this idea of believe all women, where you just automatically assume that 100 percent of women always tell the truth and that 100 percent of men always lie, is the death nail of a movement. You will get yourself hemmed up in a situation where you lose the legitimacy of your movement. And that's exactly what they're doing right now. And that enables, I think, as you begin to unpack this. And we had a conversation a couple of weeks ago.

We were talking about when Justin Fairfast came out and said there was another person who was in the room. And then Meredith Watson or her attorney refused to even address that. Like, it won't even say if he's a liar or that actually happened. Right. And then, of course, so it's all this sort of back and forth here. And it does go to show and look, and people can sit here and say, well, you're a man, you think that way.

But at the end of the day, if somebody accuses you of something, you want to either protect your name or, you know what, you did it. Exactly. I mean, let's just, you know, you cannot prove a negative.

Let's just put that on the table right now. This idea of suspending your campaign until you prove that somebody else is lying about you is a fool's errand because it cannot be done. That's the entire reason why, in terms of our court system, the whole premise is innocent until proven guilty. You have the prosecutor whose job is to prove that the accusations against you are correct. It's not your job to come up in here and prove that the person who is accusing you is lying

because it's hard to prove that a lie is a lie. But I will say that, you know, what is going on in terms of what evidence we do have with regards to the accusations that are currently thrown against Vice President Biden do show that there are some legitimate questions that can be raised. So, for example, this issue about the complaint that was supposed to be filed back in 1993, you know, she says that it was filed. The New York Times looked for it because they needed to be able to have some evidence, right, to report it. They couldn't find any evidence of it. But she did say that she has all of her employment records back to 1990. Now, I personally don't understand how one can save employment records all the way back to 1993, yet you don't save the one complaint that you claimed had a traumatic effect on your life. That, to me, is illogical. That undermines her

credibility to me. Also, what undermines her credibility is that all the way up until 2017, she was in fact very pro-Biden in all of her public stances. She was in fact tweeting tweets and retweeting and liking tweets and talking about how what a strong fighter he was specifically on the issue of sexual assault against women. And then something seemed to happen if you look at her history in terms of her social media behavior and her writings, specifically on the issue of sexual assault against women. And then something seemed to happen. If you look at her history in terms of her social media behavior and her writings, things changed back in 2018 when she started to write and produce a lot of pro-Putin propaganda. Let's just say that.

That started back in 2018. And then this year, she became very strongly pro-Bernie Sanders. And that's when she began to attack Biden. So something shifted in her in very recent history. So, you know, all of these things make me question the legitimacy of her accusations. And I think all of these things need to be taken into account, not just some blind assumption that just because someone said something happened 30 years ago with zero proof of that, that someone to actually suspend his campaign and then sit to go on a fool's errand to make some sort of proof that a record that she can't even produce wasn't filed?

How in the world can you do that? Kelly, do you believe that, on the Republican side, this is really the goal? No, it's the goal. No, follow me. It's to force the conversation. Because now all of a sudden it's, Joe, release this, release that. So does this become the new email of the 2016? Is this the new server of the 2016?

I think they're trying to make it that, and it's unfortunate that they're using a potential sexual assault case in that regard, because frankly, they've been trying for the past, I don't know, two, three, four years to find something against Biden that is the equivalent to Hillary Clinton's emails. Unfortunately, they found something that is the equivalent of a rape case, and it involves a third party who, frankly, shouldn't be involved because it's not even about her, according to the Republicans. They are literally just trying to find

a nail in the coffin regardless. And if you really think about it from that perspective, what they're doing is really insidious and very callous on behalf of Tara Reade. Because let's just say that nothing happened and the Republicans are pushing this narrative onto her. Now, her reputation is ruined and she's, you know, basically defiled by court of public opinion and Monica Lewinsky, so to speak. And for what? You know, if you're so threatened of Biden's presence, then do something legitimate.

Don't do this, especially something that is entirely hypocritical of the Republican Party, considering who they supported as president in 2016. And they also don't care. I mean, this is who the Republican Party is. Yeah, and I want to bring up, you know, I love the real float is Michelle Obama, her famous saying, when they go low, we go high. I changed that a little bit. When they go low, you hit them directly in the chest. Like, listen, so he needs to fight back. This is not something you can continue just to just take the high ground. You might miss their head. You need to make sure that when people attack you, you attack back. You can do this without being

dishonest, but you can't do it being weak. And I'm not saying he's being weak, but I'm saying they need to come. They're going to do everything possible to win this election. The only way that the Republicans are going to win the election is through disinformation, through trying to suppress the vote, through trying to cheat, through trying to put out false information. I think we're going to see a whole nother level that we've never seen in this election before. And so I just hope that the Biden campaign is prepared for that because they're going to see things that have never been done before.

But here's the deal, though, Robert. Can you actually fight back? I'm going to use Justin Fairfax again. There are people who literally called for his resignation within the first five minutes when the story dropped. Former Governor Terry McAuliffe was one of those people. There are a number of other people who said he got to go, he got to go, he got to go. But they're not saying that about Joe Biden. And so what's next? What do you see

is next? Well, as I said, what I think should happen next is he gathers his information. He addresses the issue one time. He addresses it authoritatively. You get affidavits from everybody who was involved at the time. You talk to the Senate office where complaints were filed to get an affidavit from somebody there or even a statement from them to say that nothing was filed. You gather every piece of information that you can. You present it to the court of public opinion, and then you move on from it. What we saw with President Trump, the reason that President Trump has been able to survive every sexual assault or sexual impropriety allegation against him is for one reason.

He addresses them one way. He says yes and. And then he moves on from it. He doesn't care what the answer is. He doesn't get down into the weeds. He doesn't get down into the minutia. He addresses it one time, he moves on to the next subject, and he never talks about

it again. That's what Joe Biden's going to have to do. You bring your evidence, you address it one time, and then you move on to the next. Yeah, but Robert, here's the deal, though. Donald Trump never bringing any evidence. Here's the reality. The reason Donald Trump's been able to do that is because his party is standing with him. The difference here is Democrats

are a hell of a lot more going, hey, we got to look at this. Look at how Democrats dealt with Al Franken. Look how they dealt with John Conyers. You had what was the short fat dude, Blake

Ryan whatever his name is. Dude, he stayed in Congress several uh, right. Whatever. Right. And the whole, whatever his name is, dude, he stayed in Congress several months after that, before he finally resigned the Republic. The difference between the Republican party and the Democrat party is that the Democrats will get rid of one of their own and go, Oh, you know,

this is, this is so tough. Republicans will go, damn that we win power, whatever the hell, move on. That's actually the difference, Robert. Look, I've never compared myself against mediocrity. Just because someone else is doing wrong doesn't mean you do wrong right along with them.

So I think you put your information out there, you clear your name to the best extent that you can, and then you move on from the issue. But what I don't think you can do is drag this out, which is what's going on right now. If Joe Biden this morning has simply laid out his case for his innocence on morning Joe, this would be a one-day story. Instead, they've let this sit there and fester for a year, year and a half, since these allegations were made, and it's not going away. It's just metastasizing. So this is the worst possible way of handling it. If they continue along this line, then it will be an issue all the way through

the campaign. It's going to be very difficult for Democrats down ballot to argue that they are the party of women and they deserve to get those 60 percent of white women who voted for Trump in the last election. It's difficult to make your case to them when you are saying our nominee may or may not be in the same vote. So you have to address it one time, address it seriously, and then move on from it. Final comment on this topic, Rob, Kelly, and Avis. Yeah, well, look, you're not going to get those 60% of white women that voted for Trump. That shouldn't even be your goal. First of all, hold on, hold on.

53% of white women voted for Trump. Go ahead. Yeah, that sounds closer to right. Thank you for that. And you probably won't get those. So the goal is to make sure that you get your people out. And I tell you, you don't win anything with weakness. If you didn't do it, you go back strong.

You don't attack her. You attack the Republican Party. You attack all those who put her up to this to say that all they want to do is to distract you. And they want to use sexual assault knowing that they are guilty of supporting a predator. We need to get them out of office because they will do anything to distract you from the disaster that they're doing. Just stick on the message. Kelly? I just think, again, it's entirely hypocritical of the Republicans to be going this route in

terms of their mode of attack towards Biden, considering who they have in office. But regardless, Biden should definitely stay on the campaign. He should keep fighting to win the presidency. Unfortunately, this is just a blip in the road, hopefully. But rolling your point about, you know, the Democrats, you know, kind of rolling over when it comes to, quote, of a public opinion, we cannot afford to do that anymore. That was, you know, noble of us back before Trump was president or, yeah, before Trump was president. We can't afford to do that anymore. And it's not necessarily because of power. It's because just the way things are right now, we don't have time for niceties. We don't have time to uphold morals and, you know, put us on this pedestal of greatness when we are literally having to go in the gutter. When they go low, we go high. That's cute. When we actually have a middle ground,

we don't have that anymore. So when Rob Richardson said, you know, when they go low, we hit them directly in the chest, that's exactly what we need to do. No, they go low. I say you hit them in the ankles. You go lower.

Go ahead. Go ahead. Kelly, go ahead and finish. But, you know, just for political correctness, we can meet him in the middle somewhere when we get a middle. Right now, we're in the middle. Actually, the middle between the chest and the ankles is. Well, anyway. Avis, go ahead.

Yeah, well, I say when they go low, you knock them the hell out. I just say finish them off, OK? And I think we also need to be very real about the full breadth of who they need to, who they are being attacked by. Let's just be very real and transparent here. It's not just the Republicans. If we only focus our fire at the Republicans in terms of where this specific attack is coming from, we are missing a big part of it. He is really being attacked from the far left,

the angry Bernie bros who are hoping that, against hope that somehow if they can push Biden to the side, that they can revive the Bernie campaign. You have to know who you're fighting so that you know who to fire, who to aim your firepower at. And so what I need, and the reason why I'm bringing that up

is because you need to be very real about her past and about some very disturbing things that I mentioned today that goes to motive, okay, for why she may be making accusations here. When we ignore that and only talk about, and I think we also definitely talk about Trump, but we need to be very real and transparent about the full range of attacks here so that we can cut them all off at the knees so that we can focus our attention on November exactly where it needs to be. Well, all four of y'all stay right there. Journalist Katie Cork recently recounted a story from a 2004 Dateline interview she did with Denzel Washington. And she said, left her shaking.

Listen to what she said in this podcast. I had a very uncomfortable interview once with Denzel Washington. listen to what she said in this podcast. I had a very uncomfortable interview once with Denzel Washington about the remake of the Manchurian Candidate, and I think he totally misconstrued a question I asked and kind of jumped all over me, and it was so uncomfortable.

I just remember leaving it and thinking, God, you know, I must have, I don't think I said anything wrong. I think he, I don't know what happened. Anyway, I think he must have been having a really bad day because he later wrote a big check to my colon cancer organization, which I thought was super sweet. And I love him. I admire him so much. He's one of my favorite actors, but I remember walking out and feeling really kind of shaken that he had kind of

gone after me in a way that was completely, weirdly uncalled for. What was interesting about this, and again, all for you, I find it to be interesting. She asked him about this question,

should Hollywood actors stick to acting? His response was, I'm not a Hollywood folk. I don't know who they are. She then tried to rephrase the question, but then he interrupted. He's saying he wasn't one of those people. Then she talked about, um, um, about being an actor, and he said, look, I'm a human being.

In fact, here's the transcript. Denzel, do you feel you know some people say Hollywood folks should stick to acting? Denzel, I don't know what Hollywood folks are, first of all. Hollywood is a town that has some stars on the sidewalk. I don't know what Hollywood folks are, first of all. Hollywood is a town that has some stars on the sidewalk. I don't know anybody from there. So that's like saying, calling you a type of folks.

I'm not a Hollywood folk. I don't know who they are. Cory, okay, all right. Well, let me rephrase the question. Are you one of those people that, he says, ah, there you go. Am I one of those people? Hmm, isn't that interesting? She goes, oh, stop, stop, stop. He says, no, don't stop. I heard what you just said. that he says ah there you go am i one of those people hmm isn't that interesting she goes oh

stop stop stop he says no don't stop i heard what you just said am i one of those people no i'm not no are you an actor who would rather not know i'm not an actor either i'm not that either i'm a human being my job is acting okay are you somebody who would rather not express his political views publicly i mean how do you feel about that Some people are more outspoken than others. And what I meant, are you one of those people who would rather keep it private, don't make my questions loaded when they're not? Washington, would I rather keep it private?

No, I am not one of those people. I think I speak what's on my mind. Rob, do you understand what Denzel was getting at? And do you think that Katie Couric is being just a wee bit too sensitive herself? Yes to both of those questions. I'll say, like, I guess she is so used to Denzel and sees any black man that might get an attitude with her as threatening. Like, just because he wasn't smiling or he wasn't saying what she wants to hear,

somehow he's threatening, and that made her uncomfortable, which is ridiculous. You're a reporter. So if people disagree with you, you become uncomfortable. I read the transcript, and I said there's got to be more here. And the only thing I could surmise is that maybe Katie Couric needs to find a way to get in the news again so she can pull up ratings for something she's trying to do. Maybe she's writing a book. Because I have no understanding of why she felt threatened or uncomfortable.

It just seemed like she's really, really sensitive and shouldn't have been a reporter. Kelly. This is, I don't know if you've heard about, you know, people talking about white women who do things like this as being called Karens. This is definitely a Karen move. And I hate the fact that they call it Karen,

because my mother's name is Karen. And I digress. But for her to go this far over something that is over a decade old, What is it, 16 years old? You know, this interview came, like, Manchurian came out in 2004, and in 2020, you bring up something that happened 16 years ago that, frankly, you actually did do.

You did, like, journalists know how to ask questions to glean the answer that they're looking for. So the fact that Denzel Washington did not fall for the trap of basically saying actors should stay in their lane, she probably felt threatened by the fact that he didn't fall for her trap, not the fact that he actually stood up for himself. So that is the real key here. She really did load onto a question. It's a leading question. Lawyers do it. Journalists do it. People who want to trap

people into questions do it all the time. He didn't fall for it. She got salty, and apparently 16 years later, she's still salty about it. So, you know, just go about your day. You're great on Instagram. Stay there. Well, here's the deal. I mean, look, Robert, the reality is, you know, I can bring up a

story from 16, 20 years ago and recount that story. I think the fact that she talked about how shook she was. So just, I'm going to give my thoughts on it, but just you go ahead and weigh in. Well, I think that this is an insult to Karens everywhere. This is not Karen behavior. This is straight Becky behavior.

Because what she's doing is taking the fact that a black man would not submit to her, answer the question that she asked the way that he wanted to be asked, and then started crying about it and said that she was so offended and so shaken by the fact that this man had the nerve. How dare you not say what I told you to say? And this goes part and parcel of the over-criminalization of African Americans within our criminal justice system. This goes towards the fact that right now, even with public health recommendations being that black men are supposed to wear masks while out in public, but we have to deal with the double

consciousness and the fact that we understand that we are going to be looked at differently wearing a mask in public than other people wearing a mask in public and just the oblivious nature of her to really try to turn herself into the victim in a situation where see she was the actual aggressor she went to the award for becky of the month avis your assessment i have to agree be. Becky's be Beckian, okay? That was a classic, classic Becky move. Woe is me move, okay? You know, it is insulting, and it is weaponized.

Let's just say what that is. She weaponized her Becky-dom in that moment, suggesting that, in essence, this big Black man scared me and made me feel threatened because she apparently was embarrassed. And for some unknown reason, and I believe that maybe she does have some motive that we are unaware of in terms of wanting to draw publicity to her at this moment, because otherwise, why the heck bring this up again? But ultimately, it continues to bother her that she was outsmarted by this black man, by this intelligent, beautiful and talented black man. And so

it is very interesting to me that all of a sudden she plays, as Robert Wright said, this classic Becky move. And it's disturbing to see that it's getting any attention at all. But people are still sort of, it's getting this media attention. And the legitimacy is crazy. If I was Denzel, I would be rather upset that he's basically using his stardom because he's a much bigger star than he will ever be in terms of her notoriety in the journalism field, let's be honest, okay? She is using his stardom in order to bring more attention to her, and I absolutely

believe it's because he has some motivation that we are unaware of yet, but we'll probably find out in the not-too-distant and the not-too-far-away future. Here's, um... So here's what I think, actually. And this is to Katie Couric. Matter of fact, I ought to send her a text message right now and say, watch what I'm about to say.

What Denzel Washington was actually trying to tell you, Katie, is look at me. Ask me. Don't group me with them. See, I think the mistake that we sometimes make is we fall into the Hollywood folks. Pull the transcript back up. I'm going to walk you all through this

so you can understand. I'm going to put myself in terms of where Denzel is. Pull the transcript up, please. Some people say Hollywood folks should stick to acting. Right there. So let's break that down. She's saying some folks. I've gotten those type of questions, and then I go, who are some folks?

Name some people. Like, what's the basis of the question? It actually is a lazy way for us what's the basis of the question? It actually is a lazy way for us to be able to ask the question because what we're doing is we're not putting the onus on ourselves. We're putting it on some people. And then you say Hollywood folks.

Well, who are Hollywood folks? Ingenue Ellis is an actress who lives in Mississippi. I know people who are actors who live in Atlanta, who live in New York, who live in Houston, who live in Nebraska, who live in different places. So also when you... Pull the transcript back up, please.

When you say, Hollywood folks, stop right there. What that means is I'm not placing you in the category with them. That's that other thing, that other thing. Because the phrase Hollywood folks actually evokes a particular thing in your mind. I'll give you an example. And my panel can, I'll ask ask them what are some of the traditional phrases we you we hear that define hollywood folks y'all spit some out

elite effete left-wing liberals or what else what That was going to be what I used. No, no. What do we hear? Limousine liberals. If you use that phrase, it automatically evokes Hollywood. Also, oh, left coast. Hollywood. Yep. Hollywood. When in fact the left coast on a map is the entire

left part of the country. So what does that mean? Washington State, Oregon, California. Y'all, it's some conservative places in California. But that's not what they mean. See, these phrases are being used for a reason. Transcript, please.

So when you say, he says, I don't know what Hollywood folks are first of all Hollywood is a town there's some stars on the sidewalk I don't know anybody from here from there so I don't that's like saying calling you a type of folks I'm not a Hollywood folk I don't know what they are she goes let me rephrase the question are you one of those people? Boom, right there. First of all, why are you automatically going to one of those people? This is all you have to say. Transcript back up, please. Because you see, she was going down to the whole deal in terms of politics.

What Denzel was trying to say is, stop associating me with everyone else. In fact, the interview was Denzel, Meryl Streep, and I think it was Lee Schreiber. I can't remember who the third person was. Meryl Streep is actually far more of a vocal activist. What Denzel is saying, that's me. Look at me. Look at me.

Transcript. When she says, no, are you an actor who would rather he go stop? I'm a human being. My job is acting. What Denzel was saying, Katie, look at me. And simply say, Denzel, why aren't you more vocal on politics? What's behind it?

I'll give you an example. Do y'all remember? Do you remember when their son was interviewed by Craig Melvin on NBC for Black Klansman? asked him the question, John David Washington, asked him the question about being the son of an actor, Denzel Washington. He had to gently check Craig Melvin because Craig Melvin forgot his mama is an actor. Paulette Washington. See, that, Avis, to me, is what I think what Denzel, it wasn't he was having a bad day. What Denzel was saying, see me for who I am.

And don't bring in everybody else. So ask me and don't use these phrases as a crutch that somehow now puts me in a box. That, I think, Ava, is what he was trying to say. I think you hit the nail right on the head. And that makes sense in every sense of the word, especially since we all know that the reality and struggles and the experience of Black actors, I would say,

are discernibly different from the Hollywood life and the Hollywood experience that the typical white actor and white actresses have. And so in trying to sort of lump him into this big sort of a Hollywood muddle, she was putting him in that same experience. And I would bet my last dime that he had a discernibly different experience in Hollywood than some of his peers who are in that same industry.

And so I can understand why he's saying, don't just sit here and lump me into some of this sort of abstract Hollywood notion that I don't align with, that doesn't reflect my life, doesn't reflect my values, doesn't reflect my experiences, does not reflect my history. See me. See me and ask me the question. And that's exactly the stance he should have taken because to do otherwise would have been a misguided assumption. And that, I think, for for so many people not really understanding this whole notion of look at me. So it's no different than Robert, Rob and Kelly, if you're interviewing a musician.

And it's like, whoa, don't associate me with them. Talk to me. Don't group me with... No, no, no. Talk to me. I'm not them. If I'm interviewing Chuck D, I'm not asking Chuck D

about what Lil Wayne what Migos what 50 Cent what Boosie Chuck like whoa that ain't me how they roll not how I roll

that to me I think is really what what my man was saying yeah look I actually think this is very simple So that to me, I think is really what, what my man was saying. Yeah. Look, I actually think this is very simple. She, she knew that too. Again, she's looking to promote herself right now, look like the victim. And, you know, she knows that it will get, it would get play.

She's talking about Denzel Washington. And she wanted to, and it's even better if he says something about it because then the story continues and continues. She's definitely doing this for promotion. I mean, there was nothing wrong with how he answered that question, and I don't really understand her outrage. I just don't, and I have no sympathy for it. Zero zilch. So I do want to play, I think this is the clip, Kelly,

where John David Washington was talking about his mother. And it was sort of like, don't just narrow this whole thing down. Okay, so watch this. As you got started in this business, being the son of Denzel Washington was... And Paul out of Washington. And Paul, thank you. Who was earning more money than he was when they married, before they got married. She was on Broadway working.

She paid for the first date. She paid the bill, paid the cab ride. So a classically trained pianist, went to Juilliard. She's a great artist in her own right. And I learned a lot from her. My father taught me how to hunt. My mother taught me how to love. This portion of the interview...

That is what happens when, one, you listen to your subject and you don't simply put them in a box, Kelly. Absolutely. Actually, that's one of my favorite interviews from John David Walsh. During that time when he was on that press cycle for Klansmen, he had to say that a lot to quite a few interviewers. And it was a little bit disheartening because either way, let's just say that these reporters did their jobs, actually did thorough research and said, you know, the son of Denzel and Pauletta Washington. You're still limiting an actor who has, who is making his way

up, who has a body of work in his own right. You're still limiting him to whatever his parents did. You're still limiting him to someone else's body of work. And then worse, you're limiting what he wants to do with what his parents did. So it's one of those things where you have to let people be who they are and understand that just because you're affiliated with one group of people doesn't mean that you are that group of people.

You are your own individual. And I see this a lot when it comes to people interviewing Black people as a whole. It's like you limit them to just being a singer. You limit them to just being an actor or a dancer or something in entertainment. And the implication therein is that you're not smart enough to reach this level of intellect

that I'm trying to engage with you. And that's just entirely false, specifically when it comes to Denzel Washington. So the fact that Katie Couric even went there, the fact that the implications were just there in general, she was definitely doing a Becky. I like Becky over Karen. I feel like we should replace Karen with Katie altogether just because of this debacle. But like Becky over Karen. I feel like we should replace Karen with Katie altogether just because of this debacle. But yes, I agree. Last point here, Robert.

You know what? I really think I really think Robert I really think what Katie Couric should do is go back and actually watch the interview again

and then take what Denzel said and then say, let me put myself in his shoes. I think she would understand it maybe a lot different.

But when I read the transcript, I saw it and I went, yeah, I know exactly. I know exactly. And the reason why I find it to be interesting is because this actually happened. There are times when we interview people and they got attitude. They got attitude and they have a bad day and they don't care. I mean, two that come to mind for me was when I'm just, and I'm telling y'all, this actually happened. I'm working at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, city hall reporter.

Khaled Muhammad is coming to Fort Worth to speak. This was after he got suspended by Nation of Islam's leader, Louis Farrakhan. And Khaled Muhammad is from Houston, Texas. And I'm writing a profile on him coming. So I'm asking him questions about growing up in Houston, wanting to be a Baptist minister, going to Xavier University. And he is not being cordial. He's being extremely defensive.

He goes, what's up with all these personal questions? So I had really gotten tired of, you know, and this was the newspaper interview, so it was audio. I had really gotten tired, and I could tell the edge that was in his voice. And normally, Robert, the subject, says, let's go off the record. I chose to go off the record, Robert. And this is what I said.

I said, man, let me tell you something right now. I said, I don't give a fuck about you, bean pies, bow ties, or nothing else, and your bald-haired ass. I said, these folks got your ass looking like a devil out here. I'm the only black male reporter in this whole newsroom. Don't nobody give a damn about your ass coming to Fort Worth and giving a speech. And you got two choices. You can answer my questions or you can look like a damn fool when you bring your ass here with all the people surrounding you.

Now what your ass wanna do? He goes, let's go back on the record. And from that day on, the day he died, a brain hemorrhage, he told his staff, whenever he called, you put his call through. It happened with Skip Gates. Skip Gates came to Texas A&M. I'm a student. I'm working on a story.

And Skip was having one of them moods. And I put that tape recorder. I said, look, man. I said, don't nobody give a shit about you coming to College Station. I said, in fact, they didn't know who the hell you were when I brought your damn name up. I said, so, you can talk to me. I said, but guess what? If you don't talk to me, this is not going to be in tomorrow's paper, and everybody is going to be fine.

You can just walk through this town and university when nobody knows your ass was here. So, you can have a little funkular ass attitude. You can answer my questions. We went back on the record. Now, obviously, Katie Couric wasn't going to do that with Denzel right there because they didn't have limited time. But sometimes you got to go there as a reporter. But I saw what I was feeling.

I figured out real quick what Denzel was saying. That ain't hard. That's called being attentive to your subject. Well, but even beyond that, even if Denzel did have an attitude and wasn't feeling it that day, so the hell what? He's a human being. He doesn't have to be juggling and smiling and kiki-ing for

you just because you're interviewing him. You have a job to do. He has a job to do to do your job why are you bringing it up 16 years later saying that he hurt your feelings by not being as cheerful as you thought he should be the level of privilege associated with these uh with this commentary the level of dehumanization of somebody uh of denzel washington in this case as if he owes katie Couric something just by the simple nature of her honoring him with the right to be interviewed by her. I think

that's the most peculiar aspect of it to me. The fact that she thought that he owed her some level of submission just because she's asking him questions. I find the whole thing ridiculous. Alright then, and I love the person who's like, interesting considering Khalid Muhammad is not here to contradict or confirm Roland's version of the events. All right, then. And I love the person who's like, interesting considering Khalid Muhammad

is not here to contradict or confirm Roland's version of the events. All you got to do is call Hashim, his right-hand man, the new Black Panther Party. Since you want somebody to confirm it. Don't try me. Don't try me.

It actually happened. All right, folks. Kelly, Robert, Rob, Avis, I appreciate y'all being here thank you so very much uh quite interesting conversation i think i'm gonna text katie cory that segment or email it to her i'd love to get her thoughts on that i'm gonna go to a break when we come back comedian godfrey is in the house that boy about ignorant. Next, Roland Martin unfiltered. Back in a moment.

I would have never been able to raise five kids alone without this excellent job and the security of my union, working closely with my employer to make sure that I got the raises I deserved, that I had the medical benefits I deserved, that my children needed,

making sure I have job security, making sure that I'm overall successful. It's exciting to keep making a difference. It's exciting to just be part of such a great cause involving people which is what I love to do. Jackie Rodriguez's work as a pathology assistant doesn't just allow her to support her five kids. It's her way of making her community stronger. Behind every tissue sample is a real person, someone who needs her help. And Jackie takes that role seriously. Surgical patients will probably never meet her,

but her precision and attention to detail are essential to quality health care there are so many AFSCME members like Jackie who bring their a-game every day if you know one and if you're blown away by their dedication to public service please go to this website and nominate them for a never quit award I shout to AFSCME for being a partner here on Roland Martin for a never-quit award. All right, shout-out to AFSCME for being a partner here on Roland Martin Unfiltered. Thank you so very much, and so we certainly appreciate them being a partner

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We certainly appreciate all of them joining our Bring the Funk fan club. If you want, again, have your name, personal shout out, just simply cash out PayPal or go to rollermarknonfilter.com, PayPal. Again, I'll go over the end of the year. So, 20,000 people joining our Bring the Funk fan club at 50 bucks or more. And we certainly appreciate all that you do to make this possible.

All right, folks. Y'all seen him. It's comedy special. You've seen him in Soul Plane. You've seen him in other movies. And lately, for the past six weeks, he has been absolutely ignorant on Instagram. Late at night or early in the morning, depending upon where you are. Come here, there's Godfrey in the house.

What's up, Godfrey? What up? So, so glad you are here. First of all, what are we talking to you on? FaceTime, Duo, Skype, what the hell? This is Duo. Okay, because Lord have mercy. My people said Godfrey's driving us crazy. He don't know how to do Skype.

He don't know what he does. It's not about knowing how to do Skype. You guys are on some old stuff. You need to be on Duo and Zoom. What? Why? See? See right there.

No, no, we're not. They don't dial up like right there. I heard your notifications. You ain't turn your damn notifications off. I heard it loud as buzzing. Beep, beep. See? That's to let you know I got things to do. Oh, that's to let you know. You ain't got a damn thing to do.

You've been sitting in that same chair for six weeks. That's why you go live at 2 a.m. and you don't get done until 7.30. And sometimes you be with me. Look, I stay up. I'm sitting going like Godfrey has every night. Instagram, I'm tired of you. They gave me four hours straight.

But hold up. But didn't that, what happened on the night, like for like three days, we couldn't access you. What the hell? I'm like, I got. I don't know what it was. Listen, you know what? We keep saying, like, we thinking the government be stepping in sometimes.

So what have you learned? Because you had, like, a lot of direct contact with your fan base the last six weeks. What have you learned the most? What have I learned? I learned that they need us, especially through just the importance of entertainment. You know, a lot of times,

we know entertainment is important, but it really, this time really, and not to sound corny, but this time has really shown that entertainment is so important for times like this. Like, we literally are carrying a lot of this weight on our shoulders by, like, filling in these hours. You, me, all these different comedians, musicians, the different battles.

Look at what D-Nice has done to the internet. You know what I mean? Look what he's done to social media. Like, entertainment is really that important in the world. You know what I mean? Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. And just the fact that I keep my,

I'm consistently talking to my fans and consistently talking to people, keeping them up. A lot of people, you know, their sleeping cycles are all messed up. So people are waking up in the middle of the night like, I don't people, keeping them up. A lot of people, you know, their sleeping cycles are all messed up. So people are waking up in the middle of the night. Like, I don't know why I'm up because nobody knows when this is going to end. Everybody's used to a routine. Now, I don't even call any day Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday.

I just call it day. There's no sun. There's no sat. It's just day. I mean, you're absolutely right on the time thing. Because look, dude, I'm 4, 5, 6. You know, I'm like, all right, I'll wake up at 11, 11, 30, 12, 1.

And you go to bed so you don't feel like a loser. And so I was sitting here like, damn. I'm like, is it Thursday? Yeah. Is it? Do I have a show tomorrow? Right. I was like. Right.

Right. I'm like, oh, no, no, no. I'm like, it's Wednesday. I got two more. I got Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. Yeah, it's because everything is totally thrown off. So I got to ask you, dude, what the hell is up with this thick-ass, like, the pizza man mustache

you be putting on? What the hell is that? Oh, let me find it. Like, what the hell? I just found that mustache. You know, sometimes I'll go to a, if I have ideas in my head, I'll go to a costume um, if I have ideas in my head, I'll go to a, um... I'll go to a costume shop in New York City.

And I'll just, not even during Halloween, just regular days and just to find little stuff, because I'll have ideas in my head and say, yeah, this will be funny, this will be funny. You know what I'm saying? So... What? That's the mustache you're talking about. So that's all you do?

You just put it on? I just put it on. Is it like a character that goes with it? It depends. I can be like, hello, my friend. I love your show. Roland Martin, I watch your show all the time, all the time. My favorite.

I love it. It just looks right. You know, it's just, I don't, it don't. All the time. My favorite. I love it. It just looks right. You know, it's just, it don't have to make sense. You feel me? No, I don't. Actually, I don't. You know what, Martin? I don't need that.

I'm just trying. I don't need that from you, man. I do different stuff. I think you've seen, like, listen, man. I do all kinds of stuff, man. I don't care. So I've seen you and Jay Pharoah go at it, y'all and the whole impersonation.

So we're just talking about Kitty Corrick whining and complaining, really? The bozo, really? OK, and now we're playing with filters. Yo, don't, hey, man, don't make fun of clowns. They work hard, too. Oh, I'm playing it, really? The bozo, really? Okay, and now we're playing with filters. No, hey, yo, don't, hey, man. Don't make fun of clowns. They work hard, too. Oh, I'm sorry.

I know, so you're doing your Trump impersonation. You're orange. I got it, okay? Exactly. Yeah. Nailed it. Ah, there we go. This is my favorite show.

I swear to God, you have the best show ever. Your show's incredible. Everything else is fake news, but Roland Martin, I respect you. I really do. I respect you. I think you're real. You're the best. You know, when I first, after he won, they had an anchor meeting at the White House, and I

was there, and he walks in, all the anchors jump up, Mr. President, Mr. President, and they walk up. I'm sitting there, and I'm like, I can't call him Mr. President. I'm like there and I'm like, I can't call him Mr. President. I'm like, he don't respect the office. And so everybody jumps up and moves towards the President. I backed

up. I'm like, well, he got to walk this way anyway. So he got to come around to the table. So I hang back. And dude, they all walk up to him and shake hands. Good to see you. Good to see you. Shake a hand. I'm like, I'm like, I can't. I'm like, did you shake his to see you. Good to see you. Shake a hand. I'm like, I don't know. I'm like, I can't. I'm like, damn.

Did you shake his hand? I said, Mr. President, Mr. Trump. I'm like, I can't go with that. So he finally walks over, sticks his hands out. He goes, good to see you. I go, hi. I'm straight up. Dog, the words Mr. President were not

going to come out my mouth. Wow. I literally went, hi. OK. Dog, you got to understand. You got to understand. You got to understand. I've interviewed President George H.W. Bush.

Right. President George W. Bush. Yeah. Bill Clinton when he was running okay right met several times president jimmy carter all right president barack obama all right wow this is the sixth united states president that i've personally met i hi that's all that's all that could come out, bro. That's it. I couldn't... That was nothing else that was gonna come out.

Oh, hell. What... You're supposed to address me as president. You're rude. I don't like you. I think you're very disrespectful. I can't believe you did that. I caught you.

I'm at his house. I knew it was you. You're really wrong. I don't believe you did that. I caught you. I'm at his house. I knew it was you. You're really wrong. I don't really like what you did. You should have said, Mr. President, you're a piece. I don't like you. This is not real news. It's all fake. It's all fake. It really is.

We were just talking about Katie Couric being a little upset with Denzel. Don't you do a Denzel impersonation? Or was that Jay Pharoah? Everybody does. There's a couple of guys that do Denzel. Dean Edwards is a comedian who was the first to do Denzel Washington. And then we all did our version from him.

And everybody does, Katie Couric said something about Denzel. You know, I don't know. She felt she got treated a little bad. She was a little shook when she interviewed him in 2004. And Denzel probably said, oh, so is that what you're saying? Is that what you're going to tell me? That you're going to ask me dumb questions? I don't really have time for it.

Everybody in here who asks questions are not going to get the right answers. So I think this interview is over. Y'all, okay, so out of all people, who is your absolute favorite impersonation? Who you just like doing the most? The most? Ooh. I like, man.

There's a, see, the most. Okay, give me two. All right, give me two. I'm really enjoying Shannon Sharp. Okay, okay. Okay, give me Shannon. Skip, listen, Skip. Now, I've been in the NFL for a long time, okay. Uh, give me Shannon. Skip, listen, Skip. Now, I've been in the NFL for a long time, Skip.

See, you know, Skip, come on now. All these players don't even understand, Skip, that it's a psychological situation, Skip. I ain't got time to be arguing with these boys, Skip. They don't understand. Once you get the money, Skip, man, you better save your dollar. That's what I'm saying, Skip.

I say it all the time. You know what I mean? That's my favorite. Oh, Lord. I'm sitting sharing the text right now saying God is killing you. All right. What's your other one? I've never met Shannon Shaw, and I would love to meet him,

maybe talk to him, but I know he'll beat my ass, because I've seen him. He lifts like 225 pounds about 25 times. So I won't be doing this in front of Shannon Shaw. All right, you said there was another one. What is it? Richard Pryor, but you can't use profanity on here. Dog, the show's called Roland Martin Unfiltered.

Oh, damn. It's my show. My Richard Pryor, I take a lot of pride in, man, because a lot of people can't do him, and I've done him. Man, this some funny shit, Jack. You ever see Roland Martin? That motherfucker bad, Jack.

Goddamn. Roland don't give a fuck about nobody, Jack. Did you see him talking to Trump? Shit, that motherfucker dissed the shit out that motherfucker. Yeah. Because you know a nigga don't give a fuck, Jack. Uh-uh, no. Everybody else say, Mr. President, Mr. President. Shit, Roland Martin said, you can suck my dick, Jack.

You, okay, now you straight ignorant. See, now, you nail Richard, but you ignorant. You ignorant. And his deal, N-word is not allowed anywhere, but you were impersonating Richard Pryor. I was impersonating, exactly. Right, you were impersonating. I'm not an N-word user like that, but I was using,

and my Paul Mooney's pretty good. I know me and, um. Oh, Paul Mooney's pretty good. I know me and me and um. Oh, Paul Mooney? Yeah. OK, I got to see Paul. I got to see Paul. You niggas, I told you you niggas wasn't listening. I knew exactly what the fuck Donald Trump is a nigga.

He's a nigga. He's doing nigga shit. I told you. I told you. He's crazy. Somebody is's doing nigga shit. I told you. I told you. He's crazy. Somebody is smoking crack in the White House. That is Paul Mooney. And here's the deal.

Paul Mooney does not care about using the N-word. If you look at Bernie Mac's bit in Kings of Comedy, Paul Mooney will use the N-word 78 times, don't care. And that's in a three-minute conversation. Yeah, he said, I'll say nigger till my teeth gets white. Nigga, nigga, nigga, nigga. Right. That's actually one of his bits.

He, Paul Mooney is, if people, here's the thing. Here's the issue with Paul Mooney. Paul Mooney is so if people, here's the thing, here's the issue with Paul Mooney. Paul Mooney is so raw. Yes. You sometimes can't figure out is he being funny? Right. Or is he serious?

And so you like want to laugh and then you like, I think he's serious. I think he's serious right now. I think, but the comedy is, I think he's, let's put it together, furious. Funny and serious. He's furious.

Almost sounds like furious, but furious. Because he's being both, man. Yeah, he, I'm talking about, no. Paul Mooney's comedy makes you go, ooh, damn, I think that was too hard. I think he hit too hard. I think he was, I mean, you, no, Paul Mooney's comedy makes you go, oh, damn, I think that was too hard. I think he hit too hard. I think he was, I mean, you, I mean, when- Yeah, he hit too hard.

He body blows. Yeah. But here's the thing, it's so funny though. Right, but I'm saying, but something, Paul would make you so uncomfortable, cause you're like, okay, I wanna laugh, but that really hit them real hard. So I, I. And then if you, and then Paul will always do this.

Oh, look at you house niggas. House niggas are afraid to laugh. You niggas are just, oh, you scared niggas. All of you are scared. Right. So now you like, OK, now he'd included all of us in this. Let me tell y'all something. Paul Mooney, Paul Mooney performed with dick gregory it was a concert in essence

his concert it was during essence and it was at one of the hotels y'all and paul did not care that people paid for this vip line paul look look i i i i i don't care. No, no, no. No pictures. No, hell no. Hell no. No pictures if you don't buy a CD. No, hell no. Put your damn cameras down.

Put your cameras down. And then he grabs a CD. He's kind of like, nope, nope, no pictures. No, unless you buy a CD. See, CD, $20. $20. CD is $20. And he's blocking his face. And he's sitting there. Dog, he is going. And CD is $20. And he's blocking his face, and he's sitting there.

Dog, he is going. And I was sitting there, and I was like, damn, Paul. Paul, the point, you're trying to encourage him to get the CD. I don't care. Then Dick Gregory is sitting there. Dick Gregory ain't sitting here tripping. Dick's sitting here signing autographs. This fool takes the CD,

put it in front of Dick Fray. Nope, nope, nope, nope. Hell no. Hell no. No photos for Dick. No selfies with Dick either unless you pay. Unless you pay. And Dick is just sitting there signing.

Doc, I'm sitting here. I was like, yo, he was crazy. So let me show y'all at home watching this, y'all. So in 2000, I guess it was 2009, NABJ had our convention in Tampa with the Sports Task Force Party, and I walked somebody outside to the cab, and y'all this actually happened

hold on, hold on no you gotta go over here this is Godfrey and Roland Martin I finally get to meet Roland Martin, the Stephen A. Smith of CNN holding no punches did you call Shannon? Killing him son he used a voice yo

CNN killing him, son! No, no, he used a voice, yo! CNN, killing him! Whoo! Oh, man. All during the Barack campaign, he was killing them. You were shutting down that Republican, that Latin lady that was annoying us. Remember, remember when that one old lady said that black, um, um, um, Obama has a problem because he's black?

That mumbling, stupid, out of that trans native, Adam, you were like, Adam, Obama has a problem because he's black, that mumbling stupid, that trans neighbor, Adam, you were like, Adam, what are you talking about? You, you, you have people who's bumbling all the time. They let you breathe, man. They let you, you know, you know, seriously, y'all, man, I have no problem giving props. Brothers don't do that enough. I have no, you're the fucking, he's amazing to fucking make some money. Y'all, he's getting his own show, son. And when you do, I need to be on it. I'll just wear a shirt, Roland Martin. I'll just be in the back like this.

I'll just be in the back like this. Y'all, I'll be in the back like this. Every time you say something, be like, yeah. Yeah. Hell yeah. Yeah. Hell yeah. Yeah. Oh, man. Every time, I'm telling you.

I'm telling you. You are the saddest dude on the street. If I don't see this on air, I'm going to be very upset. God, they're like, yeah. Yeah. Hell yeah. Hello, this is Godfrey. Oh, man.

That was crazy, Godfrey. Yeah, that was wild. That was wild. And I'm on your show again. Well, you were on News one. You're, uh, uh, um, um, uh, hold on one second. Hold on. Hold on. All right.

So, all right. I'm trying to do something right here. I'm trying to do something right here. All right. Yo, Shayna, you there? I'm trying to do something right here. I'm trying to do something right here. I'm trying to do something right here. Shannon, are you there?

I'm here, Ro. What's up? OK, first of all, hold up, y'all. I'm getting show feedback from somewhere. So Shannon, take. Shannon, do me a favor. Shannon, turn off the video to my show. Turn the video off to my show so I can talk to you,

because otherwise I'm getting feedback. Shannon, do me a favor. So what do you want me to do? I want you to close the YouTube app. Turn the video off to my show so I can talk to you, because otherwise I'm getting feedback. I don't have to close YouTube down. I'm just on my phone.

Okay, y'all got to figure out what the feedback is. All right, so, Shannon, Comedian Godfrey is on here. Dude, he just did a killer impersonation of you. He said, I ain't never met Shannon. So I said, fine, I'm going to call him. Hey, Ro, you know you one of the few people that can call me and have me on your show while I do make fun of me. Hey, Shannon, he's lying.

I never made fun of you. All right, so Shannon is on. Godfrey, I need you to do Shannon Sharp to Shannon Sharp. Man, all right, I'm not getting my ass whooped. Godfrey, me and Shannon friends. Ain't nothing going to happen to you. He's your friend. Godfrey, come on, man.

I got him on the doggone phone. Hey, can you hear me, Shannon? I hear you, bro. Go ahead, Godfrey. You don't know who I am, Shannon. I'm Godfrey. That's my name. I'm a comedian.

I know of you. I don't know you personally, but I know of your work. All right, Godfrey. Godfrey, it's time for you to do Shannon Sharp to Shannon Sharp. I saw Shannon lifting 225 pounds and warming up. I'm afraid. Don't worry about it. I'll take care of it.

Come on, Godfrey. Stop being scared. OK, all I said, Shannon, was skip. Now, you know I've been around a long time, Skip. That's pretty on, Godfrey, stop being scared. OK, all I said, Shannon, was, Skip, now you know I've been around a long time, Skip. That's pretty good, huh? No, keep going. Stop. Stop.

Come on, that was it. That was it, Shannon. No, I need you to have it. No, no, you didn't. Godfrey, I'm going to cuss your ass out if you don't do this damn bit. Hey, Shannon, how was that so far? No, forget that.

I need you to do the full bit you just did. No, no, I need him to hear more in three seconds. Do the full bit you just did. No, no, I need him to see more than three seconds. Do the full bit you just did so he can take it all in. Go. People think they can imitate me, Skip. Nobody can imitate Shannon Shaw, Skip, except for Shannon Shaw. He liked it. He liked it.

You know what? Hey, to be honest with you, many years ago, I didn't like people imitating me. Right. Because I'm like, and I'm like, but then I thought about it. I'm like, some of the most famous people ever have been imitated. Right. So I thought I took it up top of me. Like, OK, I guess I'm making it.

I'm moving on up. Precisely. Listen, Shannon, I watch your show all the time you're the best man and we all all as comedians we imitate people who we admire so you made it because we i do i we do you know how many people have done bill cosby everybody does bill cosby you see people i got to tell you i'm in jail i'm trying to get out of jail you understand people do i just saw you guys this morning do uh whoopi goldberg and my ass yes i did whoopi goldberg but shannon yeah why didn't you like me why didn't you put a like like yo that was funny because he was busy know, but he saw it, though.

See? Yeah, I did. I don't know. Somebody might have sent it to me. I got to go back up there. Yeah, because, man, it was unbelievable. I mean, I like it. I like that.

So all right. So Godfrey, Godfrey, OK, Godfrey, I need you. I need you. That was still too short for Shannon. So Godfrey, I need you to do need you. That was still too short for Shannon. So, Godfrey, I need you to do... Godfrey, back up from your camera so we can see your face. Now we're just seeing your damn ear, okay?

I need you to do Shannon Sharp talking to Skip. What you just did about getting paid. About getting paid. So, I need more Shannon Sharp so Shannon can take in more of him from you. Come on, man. I got him on the phone.

I'm going over my time doing this here. I'm paying my workers overtime. Okay. Skip, you're going to tell me that he deserves the contract that he deserves, Skip. Come on, Skip. You have to play

and you got to earn the money that you get, Skip. I on, Skip. You have to play and you got to earn the money that you get, Skip. I ain't got to say this. I've been around a long time, Skip. I know what I'm talking about, Skip. Boom! How you like that? You like that, Shannon?

I like it, Ro. I like it. I appreciate that. I appreciate you getting on the phone and letting me hear my man up close and personal. Shannon Sharp, always good, y'all. Check him out. Fox Sports 1 Undisputed every day. Skip

Bayless, Shannon Sharp. Thanks, my brother. That's the best sports show, man. Be good, bro. Have a good one. Alright. Shannon Sharp, thanks a lot. See, Godfrey, that's how I roll. That's gonna kill me, dude. Shannon ain't gonna kill you. I'm telling you, dude? That's how I roll. That's going to kill me, dude. Shan ain't going to kill you.

I'm telling you, dude, Shan's a great guy. He see you. First of all, we can't hug anymore. So he going to hit you with the elbow or something like that. Man, that's cool. I hope he get to give me a shout out, because he's the man, dude. That's real talk.

No, ain't no thing there. Well, look, we got to go. Give everybody your Cash app, y'all. He at home. You can see he need a haircut go. Give everybody your Cash app, y'all. He at home. You can see he need a haircut. So give everybody your Cash app. He got the Gumby down. Got it down.

Every little breath I take, every little step I take. Okay, Bobby Brown. My Cash app is Godfrey Comedian. His Cash app, Godfrey Comedian, and Venmo is Godfrey Comedian. All right, man. Always good to have a little fun with you. Thank you so very much. And see, now Shannon's going to start liking your videos. Man, he better start liking them.

Say, Shannon, come on, man. Hook me up, brother. Godfrey, I appreciate it, man. Thanks a lot. Yes, sir. All right, everybody. Of course, your Periscope, YouTube, Facebook. Hope y'all enjoy today's show. This is what we do. All right, everybody, of course, your Periscope, YouTube, Facebook. Hope y'all enjoyed today's show.

This is what we do. Every Wednesday and Friday, I'm going to bring comedians onto the show so we can have some laughs, have some fun. I appreciate all of y'all. If y'all on YouTube, y'all can get right there on YouTube. Please support us at Cash App,

dollar sign RM, RM Unfiltered, paypal.me forward slash RMartin unfiltered. Next week, we got a phenomenal show. Nefessa Williams, y'all, from Black Lightning, is going to be here. She's here Tuesday. Teddy Riley is going to be here Wednesday. Whole hour from 7 to 8 on Wednesday.

And we also got great tech segments next week, personal finance segments, you name it. Y'all know how we do it. That's know the show that does what we do. That's why you need to support what we do, okay? We end on Friday, we end every week. Of course, showing y'all the names. Y'all didn't have it last week.

Y'all got the names? Names. Man, y'all better make sure or somebody gonna be sitting out here with a cup talking about you got some change and talking under they mask. All right, so we gonna roll the credits of all the people who are members of our Bring the Funk fan club.

I'll see you guys on Monday. Ha! Ha! This is an iHeart Podcast.