#RolandMartinUnfiltered - 9.3 RMU: Hurricane Dorian batters the Bahamas; Union approval at 50-year high; Lightfoot rips Cruz

Episode Date: September 8, 2019

9.3.19 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: Hurricane Dorian batters the Bahamas & Florida; Union approval hits a 50-year high; Lightfoot rips Cruz; Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot to Ted Cruz: Keep our name out your mouth! 'Good Christian' woman cancels a couple's wedding because the bride was white and the groom was black; A man is suing American Airlines for choosing to put him off a plane rather than move a support dog; Naomi Osaka shows us what class looks like in sportsmanship. - #RolandMartinUnfiltered partner: Life Luxe Jazz Life Luxe Jazz is the experience of a lifetime, delivering top-notch music in an upscale destination. The weekend-long event is held at the Omnia Dayclub Los Cabos, which is nestled on the Sea of Cortez in the celebrity playground of Los Cabos, Mexico. For more information visit the website at lifeluxejazz.com. - #RolandMartinUnfiltered partner: 420 Real Estate, LLC To invest in 420 Real Estate’s legal Hemp-CBD Crowdfunding Campaign go to http://marijuanastock.org Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. Listen to Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated, on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Glott. And this is Season 2 of the War on Drugs podcast. Last year, a lot of the problems of the drug war. This year, a lot of the biggest names in music and sports. This kind of star-studded a little bit, man.

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Here's the deal. We got to set ourselves up. See, retirement is the long game. We got to make moves and make them early. Set up goals. Don't worry about a setback. Just save up and stack up to reach them. Let's put ourselves in the right position.

Pre-game to greater them. Let's put ourselves in the right position. Pre-game to greater things. Start building your retirement plan at thisispretirement.org, brought to you by AARP and the Ad Council. Thank you. Thank you. Să fac urmăm. Martin! Thank you. Să facem o pătrunjelă. Thank you. Să facem o pătrunjelă. Thank you. I'm out. Martin! Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Să ne urmăm. Thank you. Martin! Thank you. Thank you. Today is Tuesday, September 3rd, 2019. Coming up on Roland Martin Unfiltered, Hurricane Dorian devastates the Bahamas. Folks, massive damage all across that country. We'll show you some of that and also talk to folks who are on the ground and what they're trying to do to help.

We're also going to give you the information on how you can help Bahamians recover from the devastation of Hurricane Dorian. Also, it's making its way to Florida. We'll also get the latest from Paul Goodloe of the Weather Channel. Unions have more support now than they've had in nearly 50 years, according

to a new Gallup poll. We'll talk with the president of the AFSCME, Lee Saunders, about this and what does that mean for the election in 2020. Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot tells Ted Cruz, keep our name out of your damn mouth.

Pretty much what she said. Also, a good Christian woman in Mississippi cancels a black couple's wedding because, well, the bride was white and the groom was black, and she said, no, no, that ain't what we do as Christians. Now they're apologizing. Oh, you showed your true self. We see what it is.

And a brother is suing American Airlines for choosing to put him off a plane rather than move a support dog. Naomi Osaka shows us what class looks like in sportsmanship as she consoles Coco Gauff. And of course, we have another crazy-ass white person for you, y'all. I mean, this one is crazy. This woman claims her dad is black. But what racist crap she said to this Latino brother

in California, absolutely outstanding. I keep telling y'all, Trump has unleashed these folks on America. It's time to bring the funk. I'm rolling about the unfiltered. 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. It's Uncle Roro, y'all.

It's rolling, Martin. Yeah. Rolling, what's Rollin' Martin. Yeah, yeah, rollin' with Rollin' now. Yeah, yeah, he's funky, he's fresh, he's real, the it, of course, blasted the Bahamas. Folks, watch this video here. It is stunning. The storm, which hit the northern Bahamas as one of the strongest Atlantic hurricanes on record, has wreaked havoc on the islands for more than two days with unrelenting rain and wind. Five people have been killed as we know so far. Bahamian Prime Minister Hubert Menace was at a news conference and talked about how devastating this has been on the country.

This is probably the most saddened and worst day of my life to address the Bahamian people. And I just want to say that as a physician, I've been trained to withstand many things, but never anything like this. We're facing a hurricane, Hurricane Dorian, that one that we've never seen in the history of Bahamas. Many had remained behind, and still there are individuals within the western area who still refuse to leave. I can only say to them that I hope this is not the last time they will hear my voice. And may God be with them.

I can say that the Marsh Harbor area of Abaco, parts of it is already underwater and some areas you cannot tell the difference as to the beginning of the street versus where the ocean begins and they've not yet been hit by the brunt of the storm all right folks this is a video of friends hitting me uh this is freeport this is the airport. This is the terminal at the Freeport Bahamas airport. Completely, completely gutted and destroyed. Again, it is a devastation. A lot of our people, a lot of our folks understand we have a huge number of people who walk from the Bahamas who watch Roller Mark Unfiltered. I was there just a couple of months ago and it is shocking to see what happened there. What can we expect now?

Let's go to the Weather Channel meteorologist Paul Goodloe. He joins us right now. Paul, glad to have you here. We've seen that video in the Bahamas there. Nassau, not as they had rain and flooding, but, of course, some of the other islands, I mean, just devastation. One of those islands islands 70 percent underwater. Yeah so Nassau was about 120 miles away from the center of Hurricane Dorian when it was at its peak intensity 185 mile per hour staying winds and that's basically tied for the second strongest hurricane ever in the Atlantic

Basin and the strongest hurricane ever to move across any area there in the Bahamas. So this is something that we have never seen before in our lifetime, for sure, the lifetime of the nation of the Bahamas as well. That was the Albuquerque, Great Albuquerque. The northern Bahamas were decimated. Then it moved on towards Grand Bahama Island and Freeport. Never got the actual eye of the hurricane, but they got close to the eye wall. And then that storm just stalled. So the island of Grand Bahama and Freeport, hours upon hours, not like five or six or eight,

we're talking like 24 hours or even more than that of this thing moving basically four or five months for more than a day and a half. And that's just devastating to that chain. Now, finally, the good news is it's now moving away from Bahamas. And as it's safer, we can find out the true devastation. I know at least five people lost their lives. My fear is that number can go up by a multiple four or five or more. So, Paul, it was sort of like the hurricane when it just sat on top of Houston and just kept dropping rain and it didn't move. Exactly, Harvey, two years ago. And we're seeing that pattern, unfortunately, with our changing

climate. We have a lot more energy in the atmosphere, which leads to basically blocking ridges. So storms tend to move from west to east across the country. But when we have basically the extra fuel making more stubborn patterns, it prevents things from moving easily. So these hurricanes are basically heat engines. They're driven by the fact that the equator area, the tropics, gets more energy than the northern areas, or the poles, I should say. So that energy has to move from the tropical regions and then towards the poles, north and southward, depending on the hemisphere. And that's just how our atmosphere and our planet is made up with the tilt of the Earth and all that. So when you have these blocking patterns, well, these things can't move as quickly or as efficiently as they have in the past because they're coming up against things and they just kind of slow down. Harvey, the incredible thing with Harvey a couple of years ago, we looked at some of the models talking about, oh, you can see

20, 30 inches. We're like, wow, that's kind of up there. And we saw twice that amount of rain, record setting in Houston. Never, ever have we seen that much rain from a hurricane ever in the U.S. in the history of us. But we're seeing this now two years later, a stalled-out hurricane, damaging. And the last time I can remember a hurricane so unlike that was Hurricane Wilma over the Yucatan of Mexico, Cancun, Cozumel. Those beaches have never fully recovered from more than a day of that hurricane cat floor just sitting there churning or have you ever been to cancun the beaches are

nothing apparently were 15 years ago that's all because of hurricane woman uh paul uh you're in miami right now no i'm in charleston south Carolina. You see part of the harbor behind me. We're getting Dorian's closest movement as we head towards Thursday. But starting tomorrow, we'll start seeing and feeling more built this country starting here in this, the oldest city in South Carolina. But this is called the low country. It's called low country for a reason. If you see behind me, you don't see much relief here. It is just, it's flat as the eye can see. And that's the problem. Charleston's surrounded by the harbor and also fed by two rivers on the other two sides. So when the storm surge comes in from the Atlantic, it kind of blocks the rivers from exiting out toward the Atlantic. But then if you have heavy rain, which unfortunately is also forecast, then the heavy rain swells the rivers.

They push towards the Atlantic. Dorian, with its surge, pushes up and back into the harbor. The rivers meet. The water can't fully go backwards. It goes up and over the land. So we could be dealing with a storm surge four to seven feet on top of high tide. You know, it's already a five foot tidal range here between high and low tide. We could see maybe, you know, maybe a 10 foot swing and then you add maybe a couple more feet for surge. So we're going to flood hands down. The amount,

the question mark is how much rain do we get, which takes us even into that catastrophic range here. We're hoping the dry air keeps coming in from the mainland, from the southeast, and then that starts to eat away the western side of the hurricane. And that's the good news. We're on the western side. We're on the eastern side of the high wall. We'd have a lot more water push back into the harbor, back into the rivers as well all right then we're certainly moving out from south carolina north carolina to be safe as well paul good luck with the weather channel we appreciate it thanks a lot sure thing let's

now go to jacqueline charles she's the uh caribbean correspondent for the miami herald jacqueline glad to have you on roller mart unfiltered uh your sense of how the Caribbean, namely the Bahamas, has been devastated by Dorian. This is certainly the most powerful hurricane that the Bahamas has endured, and they are devastated indeed. Earlier today, the Bahamas Prime Minister, Dr. Hubert Menes, led a reconnaissance flight over the Abacos. They're still waiting for the all clear to see what's going on in Grand Bahama. I can tell you I have family in the Bahamas. In fact, they're in Freeport and we haven't been able to get any information from them. But from the reports that we're hearing, I mean, everything is underwater. People were literally cutting holes in their ceilings and stranded

there. They're using jet skis and boats to get people out. And in some cases, when people got to shelter, they had to leave that shelter because it started to take on water. As the prime minister said, you know, we build pretty good houses in the Bahamas, enough to withstand 150 miles per hour wind. But when you have a storm like Dorian, which was packing 165 miles per hour winds and bringing in storm surges of 23 feet and in some cases waves of 30 feet uh the devastation is certainly going to be there but we need to wait and see um to what extent and how much it's going to cost to rebuild this island chain uh and you and we talk about that particular cost there also we're showing some other video right now uh on social media folks go to my ipad you can get a sense of the devastation there um jacqueline it's not like i mean look for the bahamas look a significant amount of their budget is tourism and so we saw this happen with saint

thomas so this happened uh with her with the previous hurricanes how tourism is greatly impacted so when this happens folks don't come to the i don't come to the islands don't come to the country they lose that revenue makes it harder for them to also rebuild you're right i mean there are 700 islands in the bahamas right but the ironic thing in all of this is the islands that we are seeing that are heavily impacted are the islands that are the tourist draw even in new providence and that the capital, I mean, people woke up yesterday and they were flooded out of their homes because the waters were rising there.

Freeport, which is low-lying, has always struggled. And just as a moment where it seems to be getting back and getting the tourism back, they get hit by this devastating storm. So it's going to take a lot to rebuild the Bahamas. But the prime minister said yesterday that they are committed to doing it and they are going to take a lot to rebuild the Bahamas. And but the prime minister said yesterday that they are committed to doing it and they are going to, you know, make sure that they build back better. And we'll have to see. Also, they announced they and if you have the

information, an official link, if folks want to support, do you actually have that with you? I saw it on Twitter. I had retweeted it in terms of where people where folks can actually help. I don't have the official link, but at MiamiHerald.com, we actually have been writing stories about the relief effort. And I know that the Bahamian officials said that they were going to put something out today because they want to make sure that when you're donating, that you're donating to reputable, charitable organizations, and they want to make sure that the stuff that's being donated are things that are needed and that it reaches. So I know everybody's anxious to help, but I would also just sort of wait a day or two because they really need to start to do some sort of assessment. But there are efforts that are taking place to organize relief efforts. If anybody is in the South Florida area,

all of the Miami-Dade fire rescue stations, I believe, are drop-off points. Also some of the airports, the private airports, Opelika, Executive Airport in Fort Lauderdale, there are planes that are lined up, ready to go and take supplies, but they're just waiting for the all clear.

But I think we just need to wait. You know, I've covered this issue like with Haiti and everybody wants to give stuff. And sometimes, you know, we saw with Haiti and Puerto Rico, it just stayed at the port. So I think we just need to wait for some official word from the Bahamian authorities and then follow their lead. You're right. And folks, here we go to my iPad. We have up right now the Miami Herald story, which says the Bahamas needs help following Hurricane Dorian. Here's how you can donate. And so if you actually go to, we're going to push this link out on social media so you can be able to see it. And so there are a number of entities right here that they have on their website

where you can actually give to support what's happening there. And we'll also, I'll find that tweet that they sent out with the government of the Bahamas sent it out as well. And so for the rest of this week, we'll also be having folks from the Bahamas right here on the show. I've been in contact with government officials there as well because, again, as I said, there are a lot of supporters of this show in the Bahamas, and we want to do all we can to help them. Jacqueline

Charles, we certainly appreciate it. Thanks a lot. Thank you, Colin. All right, folks. And so, again, we'll have the information for you on how you can help the folks there in the Bahamas. Look, those are our people. They look like us. We want to make sure that they have our support as well. All right, folks, I want to switch gears. Yesterday, of course, was Labor Day. It is always interesting when people have Labor Day off. They actually forget actually how Labor Day even came about. It didn't just sort of happen. And some interesting news in terms of where we are in this country. For the first time in more than 50 years,

Americans at the highest number in terms of approval of labor unions. According to Gallup poll, their poll showed that 64% of Americans approve of labor unions, surpassing 60% for the third consecutive year and up 16 percentage points from his 2009 low point. That is the highest union approval rating Gallup has recorded over the past 50 years. What does this all mean heading into this election? Joining us right now is AFSCME President Lee Saunders. Lee, glad to have you back on the show. One of the partners here, Roland Martin Unfiltered. We certainly appreciate that. This was a prize to a lot of people, highest in 50 years. I don't think it's a surprise to those

that are working in the vineyard every day who are trying to organize and educate and mobilize and our communities across the country. People are fed up and they're angry and they're frustrated. And they see that there is an inequality that exists, an economic inequality that exists all over the country. And the economic system is rigged. It's rigged towards those that have a lot of money. It's rigged toward those that have a lot of power and wealth. And they want more power

and wealth at the expense of working people. And working people are saying, hold up, wait up, wait a minute here. I mean, we have to have a seat at the table. And that's why you see what's happening where people are saying labor unions are the counterforce, are the balance with all of this power and greed that's taking place in this country right now. I would say to you this, Roland, if you're talking to an elected official, 64%, they'd be real happy with 64%. We're happy with 64%, but we want to continue to grow. We want to continue to organize

all across the country. The reason why I would say folks are surprised is because we literally have seen for the last 20, 25 years, and I would say it goes to the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980. This constant assault, demeaning and degrading of unions. You had folks like, oh, no, right to work states. You had all these sort of different. And, of course, you had the Janus decision by the Supreme Court. But now all of a sudden you're seeing folks who are saying,

even people who were union critics years ago, who went, wait a minute, hold up. They now are seeing the reality of the decimation of the middle class. They're seeing the impact on low wage workers. They're now seeing that because America was a we. The nation was told, oh no, a lot of the free enterprise to do what it does and then that would, rising tide will lift all boats.

Now people are saying, that didn't work. Well, trickle-down economics doesn't work. And we see it every single day where the wealthy have more wealth at the expense of working people that that gap is the largest that it has ever been in American history and people understand that working families need to see at the table and the way you get the seat at the table is to join a

union 50% of Americans if they had the opportunity or saying that they would join a union to improve their wages, benefits, and working conditions. Because they understand the effectiveness of working together and coming together as one to deal with the issues that confront our communities every single day. We discussed this a couple times previously. But do you also think that the attacks on unions and the election of Trump forced unions, not just your union, but in terms of the union lobby across the country, to go, you know what? We better start telling our own story because, again, we discussed it before. The biggest criticism that I've had is that labor unions allowed themselves to be defined by their opponents and did not have an effective narrative to counter their critics.

We had to get back to basics. The labor movement had to get back to basics. One of the ways in which we get back to basics is to talk with our members, talk to our potential members, have a discussion with them, listen to what they've got to say, and then promote the kinds of activities, promote the kinds of good things that unions do all across the country. Having a seat at the table,

being able to not only improve the lives of our members, but improve the lives of their families and folks living in their communities all across the country. Explain and talk about that narrative and say that that seat is being taken away from you it's being taken away from you to make you and your families and your communities weaker and we can't stand for it people are coming together this is a movement

moment you've heard me say this before where folks from all walks of life are coming together saying whoa enough is enough this is unfair the economy is rigged and we've got to do something about it to fix it. Yesterday, Trump, instead of focusing on hurricanes, he was, and also between him playing golf, decided to attack the head of the AFL-CIO, complaining, saying union dues are way too high. And so what do you make of, again, on Labor Day, Trump playing golf, attacking unions, the folks who actually created Labor Day? We've got to concentrate on what we do best, and that is organizing and educating and mobilizing

our members and our communities across the country. We are preparing, just as we did in 2018, and we had major victories in 2018, electoral victories, we're preparing for 2019 and 2020. We're gonna be putting boots on the ground. Our folks will be familiar with what's going on. They're gonna be educated about what's happening to working families across this country.

And we're gonna have a massive campaign in education, but also getting people out to vote. Very, very important. What are your trade union folks saying in places like Ohio, where Hillary Clinton lost by 450,000 votes? A ton of union people supported Trump because of his criticism of NAFTA. We saw the exact same thing. A lot of union workers who voted for Obama in 2008, 2012, who chose to vote for Trump in Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. What conversations are being had? What are they saying that they're gonna do?

Those auto workers. Trump talked about, oh, bringing it back, but that hasn't happened. Steel workers, you know, those auto workers. Trump talked about, oh, bringing it back, but that hasn't happened. Steel workers, he claims, they're building new steel mills. They're not. And so what discussions are being had with those union leaders to say,

how are you going to go directly to your people and say, you voted against your own interests in the last election? What's the reality now? One thing that we have now that we didn't have in 2015 and 2016 was Trump now has a track record. He made a lot of promises to working people. A lot of folks fell for those promises. But now you've got a track record.

He has a track record. You go to Lordstown, right outside of Youngstown in Ohio, and you talk to those workers about the promises that he made in keeping that plant open, and if you recall, he made the statement, don't sell your homes because you're going to be just fine. The plant closed. You can replicate that story in state after state after state.

Promises broken. We've got to educate our folks and working families saying he promised a lot, but he didn't deliver on anything. That's exactly what we're gonna do. Also, I will in this way, tomorrow is our first anniversary of this show. And in the course, we ran the numbers. So in the last year,

we've done about 70 million views across all three platforms, increased our YouTube channel by more than 200,000. And so we certainly appreciate AFSCME being one of our founding partners in helping us do this because part of the piece is also being able to have communication apparatus and supporting media that understands these issues that speak to our people. You're getting a message out, a very, very important message out to our community. People need to hear it.

And we're going to continue to support you. So in fact, that message continues to get out there and we do what we must do to change this country and move this country forward. Because 2020 is going to be critical. And I am, the concern that I have is that we saw it in 2016, your mainstream media outlets

showing empty podiums of Trump and whatever kind of crazy thing that he said, but not hearing from and speaking to the very people who are most impacted by this public policy. I think that you have a message machine, Roland, I really do. And we've got to target our communities to impress upon them the importance of this election and the issues that impact on them and what could happen if we continue down this direction. So we support what you're doing. I think that you've got to go into these communities in every city, okay, and sit down and talk

with young black men, okay, with older black men. Talk to communities of color and explain to them and talk to them and listen to them about the issues that are confronting them every single day and then draw a conclusion and bring them together saying the only way that you can deal with this it's collectively coming together and making your voices heard one of the ways you make your voices heard is to get out there register to vote but also to vote we have this opportunity that's why it is a movement moment.

And you have a key place in moving that message with the people who listen to you, just as unions have a key place in moving that message, okay, and putting boots on the ground and educating folks so we understand what's at stake next year. Well, we're definitely gonna do that, just like we were in Memphis last year, MLK 50, and then, of course, 2017. And then we are definitely going to be, in terms of pushing, going to those places because I think we also have to connect the dots.

And we talked the same thing about before. A lot of people don't understand, in terms of what happens with this particular race, how it impacts something way over here. We're going to discuss in a moment what happened in North Carolina where three judges have now ruled that there could be a complete redrawing of all districts in North Carolina because of political gerrymandering. How that, and the work of Reverend Barber and others to change the state Supreme Court. So now if they appeal the decision,

you now have a democratically controlled state Supreme Court who's more likely going to rule and keep that court ruling. So people who only think about D.C. have to understand that when you're talking about mobilizing and organizing, it impacts these state races and local races. Let me say this, and that's our neighborhood. That's where our folks

live, their families live, our communities. Those down-ballot races are just as important as the races that are taking place nationally and here, congressionally, Senate-wise. Those down-ballot races are just as important as a presidential race. You've got an elector-friendly

governor. You've got the elector-friendly state legislature who believes in supporting working families and supporting our communities. And courts, the appointment in those courts, well, you can elect in some state Supreme Courts. But that's one thing that people don't think about. Republicans do. They do.

Look what Trump has been able to do with his friends on Capitol Hill as far as appointing justices, okay, appointing judges in states that are going to be there for a long time who are going to be carrying their philosophy. That should scare everybody. And that should at least tell us that we've got to organize ourselves to combat that kind of activity because the kinds of decisions they're gonna be making are gonna impact on us for years and years and years. Well, certainly looking forward to over the next year. Your commentary is right here on the show. the kind of decisions they're going to be making are going to impact on us for years and years and years. We're certainly looking forward over the next year.

Your commentary is right here on the show. And also, of course, our American Worker segment, which we also get some great stories that you guys have done with AFSCME about folks out there doing stuff on the ground. So it's been good to feature those individuals and showing other folks what they're doing and the great work that they're doing. They're the everyday heroes in public service. Absolutely.

Lee Saunders, we appreciate it. Thanks a bunch. Thank you, brother. All right, folks, we're going to take a break right now. When we come back, we're going to talk with our panel about impacts of unions in this election and also what's happening in North Carolina when it comes to gerrymandering. All of that next, Roland Martin Unf Martin. Subscribe to our YouTube channel. There's only one daily digital show out here that keeps it black and keep it real. It's Roland Martin Unfiltered.

See that name right there? Roland Martin Unfiltered. Like, share, subscribe to our YouTube channel. That's YouTube.com forward slash Roland S. Martin. And don't forget to turn on your notifications so when we go live, you'll know it. All right, folks, this Friday, if you're going to be in Atlanta, I'll be there.

You don't want to miss me at the Ride Money in Motion conference at the Loudermilk Center, moderating a panel about access and ownership sponsored by Banshee, the only African-American-owned publicly traded cannabis organization in the world. I'll be on the panel. Matthew Knowles, Bonita Money, Ryan Mack,

and the whole Banshee family will be front and center discussing entry into the multi-billion dollar and growing cannabis industry and how you can become a distributor, shareholder, or cannabis landlord. If you are interested in making money in this booming industry, then I promise you, you don't want to miss this.

Our panel is going to be at 2.30, but for a full list of other panels, activations, and tickets, please visit ride.rollingout.com. Ride.rollingout.com. And so you don't want to miss it. Again, as this Friday in Atlanta, and you certainly don't want to miss it, I want you guys to be there because why? Everybody keeps talking about expungement, which is critically important, but this is a $340 billion global industry, and black folks should be on the front end of making money when it comes to cannabis, as opposed to us having to spend money because our people were thrown in jail for selling it. And so, again, we certainly want to have you guys at that. And so that's taking place again this Friday in Atlanta. So please don't miss it.

All right, folks, I want to bring in my panel right now. I want to have a conversation about what we just talked about with Lee Saunders and, again, unions and their impact. Joining me right now, of course, is Malik Abdul. He is Vice President, Black Conservative Federation, Kelly Bethea, Communications Strategist, Dr. Jason Nichols, African American Studies, University of Maryland. Anybody surprised at that Gallup poll, that highest number in 50 years,

64% of Americans approving of labor unions? It wasn't too surprising to me when we just look at just historically when labor unions have been most popular. And as I was reading in that particular article, it talked about the fact that when the economy is generally doing well, people tend to appreciate labor unions more because for various reasons, I don't know. But that is something that over time you've actually seen.

And I think they pointed to another low period in that I think maybe it was from 2009 to 2012 or something something but that was really coming right out of the recession so it seems like that may be the sort of ebb and flow I'm not I don't know how far those yeah we're talking about the highest number in 50 years here Kelly and what to be what we're seeing first of all just steady increase over the last 15 20 years I think what has happened is people have finally woken up and stopped accepting the bullshit from corporations

that let us do whatever we want to do. Trust me, you're going to get the money back. And people realize, wait a minute, we're out here busting our ass. Productivity is at an all-time high. Wages have been suppressed. And y'all are sitting here making all the damn money and workers are not. That is, I think people, I think people are now understanding why unions

have played a role in growing the middle class for demanding and fighting for better wages and benefits. That makes perfect sense to me, especially like you said, in a time where productivity is at all-time high. But now the fact that we're at its highest in this year during this particular presidency, a president who does not necessarily advocate for the working man the way that he's supposed to be advocating for him, he looks like it, you know, he'll go to Texas, the Bible Belt, and other rallies and make it look like he's advocating for blue collar and other industries that are tailored or are used to labor unions. But he's not for them, really. So when you're in that kind of predicament, I can see why it's at an all-time high, because nobody really feels like they're being heard, especially at corporations like the ones that Trump has. Jason, union membership at a high of 28 percent in 1954.

Today, it's 11 percent. Republicans can't stand unions. 80 percent of Democrats support unions. 45 percent of Republicans approve of unions. 62 percent of independents. And I think what you're also seeing when you talk about unions is, again, Republicans have always had this pro business agenda supported by the Chamber of Commerce and others. And they have been folks who have absolutely been against labor unions. No, absolutely. And I think Lee Saunders broke it down pretty well when he said that they have been the people who have advocated for trickle down economics. The idea that if you make the wealthy very wealthy, then they're going to spread the wealth down.

And right now, when we're, you know, pretty much at full employment, we see wages haven't grown, you know, and I think that that's something that frustrates your average American. I think also, even though teachers unions have been body slammed over, you know, the last decade, we see that teachers, a lot of teachers can't pay their bills. You know, and that's something that, you know, that labor unions have advocated for. And, you know, me, you know, again, being somebody who studies history, when we look at the civil Rights Movement, you could make an argument that it was a labor union, the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, that actually started the Civil Rights Movement, or at least was a major force in it with A. Philip Randolph. So I think you're going to see them start to slowly grow. I don't know that they'll ever make it back to the numbers that they were in the 1950s. But you're going to see that. And when labor unions increase, so does voter participation. And that's something that I think is important right now.

Well, and also, I think you have to make a distinction when you talk about unions, because let's just be clear. Republicans love police unions. Absolutely. Fire unions. Yeah. Trade unions. They can't stand teachers unions. Yeah. Trade unions.

They can't stand teachers unions. Right. They can't stand SEIU. They can't stand AFSCME, American Federation of County and State Municipal Employees. And so, and so when you talk about union support, it all depends on what that union is because again, Trump loves touting his police view because guess what police unions are typically pro-republican very conservative and so that's why when you talk about unions you better get a breakdown because you had all these

trade unions who were all excited when Trump like oh we're gonna build an infrastructure they were thinking jobs jobs jobs ain't happening Malik well at all. Are you surprised that there are some contradictions in our politics? No, no, no. It's not contradictions. No, no, no. What I'm explaining is, no, no, here's what I'm explaining.

When people hear the word union, a lot of times people think that means pro-democratic or progressive or liberal. What I'm trying to say is no union that there are different unions Absolutely, and so a lot of people get confused by that when they hear that phrase because so within the union movement You gotta deal with the reality that there are white men who are conservative who are also anti black Who are racists who are bigots? Okay, trade unions historically have not wanted black folks in there, those high paying jobs. And so you so you've got to go beyond that umbrella term and say, no, what type of union we talking about? Well, yeah, well, I think that it's fair to talk about the complexities of people's positions on certain things.

But I think you just acknowledge that, you know, yes, Republicans do support unions. You know, they may support some unions. So they may support certain unions over the others. So I don't think that it's a fair it's fair to say that Republicans cannot stand unions. It's just as you said, it just depends on exactly. No. Overall, the numbers don't lie. Fifty five percent of Republicans don't like. I think I think we're now in double-digit improvement when I was looking at that particular article in Republicans who actually support unions. So it seems like there's just a continuing trend across the board. Yeah, because also there's some broke-ass Republicans out there

who keep voting who also realize, I've been voting against my economic interests for all this time. I might want to believe in the concept of collective bargaining and having some rights and also health care, things along those lines. That's an interesting perspective. No, it ain't interesting. That's real. That is interesting.

That's real. That's what's going on. So you've got folks in South Carolina and Mississippi and North Carolina and Georgia who got sold that bill of goods about right to work. And all of a sudden it was kind of like yeah but also you got a right to get fired without any yeah realizing that they are not going to be rich like they've been promised so they're right they shouldn't believe that well but they promise that well I mean nobody's gonna you mean very few people become rich so no no no but

we but but that's what women That's what your party was promising. Well, if my party were promising that people were going to become rich, we probably should not have taken that seriously. I mean, that's what Donald Trump actually kind of won on. Well, not, I don't think Donald Trump won that he was going to make people rich. No, Donald Trump won by saying, I'm going to bring the jobs back. They're going to stay here. What Lee just said,

hey, don't worry about your homes. All is good. We're going to rebuild these cities. We're going to build steel mills. We're going to build coal plants. That's not being rich. No,

no, hold up. I'm saying there's a difference between having a steady paycheck and losing it. You got these coal miners in West Virginia who all of a sudden two weeks ago found out they were out of jobs and then when they tried to cash those last checks, they all bounced. But Trump and his coal

buddies haven't said anything. I wonder why. Alright y'all, let's talk about North Carolina. Today, a three-judge panel issued a major ruling dealing with the issue of political gerrymandering. A massive 357 page opinion where they have struck down the state's House and Senate seats

saying the state must have until September 18th to redraw all of them in time for 2020 they said it was partisan gerrymandering Republicans they have lost folks you tell you how they've been fighting this. Let me tell you something. There's no more evil and sinister group of Republicans in America than those in North Carolina. These people are pure trash in North Carolina and how they have tried to upend democracy as best that they could, rewrite the rules, and how they have targeted black folks and others well guess what this is the 22nd time a court a state or federal court has ruled in gerrymandering

that shows you what's going on there folks let's go right now to tomas lopez executive director of democracy north carolina and tomas obviously this is a huge, huge decision because the Supreme Court rule that they had really no jurisdiction. They really couldn't get involved in this. Basically saying whatever the states decide, it's up to you. Now you have this court in North Carolina saying redraw every single House and Senate race there. But people who don't understand Republicans have used that power to to have a supermajority in North Carolina. This changes the whole ballgame. That's right. You know, the background here is that we had maps that were drawn in 2011 that were litigated several times. There was a ruling that a federal court came out with a few years ago that said those state house, state senate maps were unlawful racial gerrymanders. And so in 2017, they had to draw new maps.

Those new maps, they said, we are drawing these not for racial purposes, but to favor Republicans over Democrats. They were very explicit in saying this. Even the legislators said it themselves. And these were the maps that were challenged in court. These were the maps that were challenged in this this. Even the legislators said it themselves. And these were the maps that were challenged in court. These were the maps that were challenged in this case. And these are the ones that this North Carolina court panel has now said are unlawful under the North Carolina Constitution. And look, the Democrats control the state Supreme Court. Republicans, again, they tried to even screw that around by trying to take,

they literally tried to take a lot of their power and give it to the court below them, as opposed to them being the highest court in North Carolina. And so what do you think the response from Republicans is going to be? Well, you know, they've actually already said that they are not going to appeal this ruling. They are not appealing the ruling, and the Senate president has put out a statement saying we're gonna go ahead and draw what they're saying will be nonpartisan maps. Now what the court has done is they said listen you have two weeks General Assembly to draw new maps you have to do it in a public way and so one of the things that

all of us in North Carolina are going to be doing is watching this process hopefully weighing in as well. But what the court is also doing is appointing a referee, a special master, to help evaluate those maps and, if necessary, draw their own. And let's be clear here. By the court saying it has to be open because you have had consistent efforts in the past where Republicans have done stuff behind closed doors and literally dropped it in Democrats' laps saying, y'all got 24 hours and then we're going to pass it in 48 hours. That's right. One of the things that is important here, and it came up during the case, right, were these documents that were from Thomas Hoffler, the former guru who drew many maps around the country

and was based here in North Carolina. You know, this feeling that we're being cooked up in a back room and presented as a final deal. Here, these maps that are supposed to be drawn in the next couple of weeks, they are supposed to be done in a way where the public is going to have it say, we'll see what that ends up looking like. And again, I wouldn't understate the importance of this special referee, this special master that the court is also going to bring in as well. And again, last one here for you, Tomas. Again, this is a common cause lawsuit. And I know that was some differences of opinion there because the courts had already ruled on racial gerrymandering.

This was political gerrymandering. The case that went to the Supreme Court was one about political gerrymandering. And I know there are people in North Carolina who felt that they should have focused on racial gerrymandering. And that's what gave the Supreme Court an out, if you will, by saying we really can't speak on political gerrymandering. Right. There have been some lawsuits in North Carolina that have, that just recently, right, and again in the last couple of years, have invalidated districts on the basis of racial gerrymandering. One of the challenges, and I think one of the reasons you've seen these partisan gerrymandering lawsuits is because what the legislators have attempted to do at times is to say, well, we're not discriminating on the basis of race,

we're discriminating on the basis of party. And so that's created this opening to go on and try to pursue a different way. What was really, what is really good about today's ruling now is that you now have, under North Carolina law, racial gerrymandering is prohibited and partisan gerrymandering is prohibited. So you've got two potential routes now

for challenging that moving forward. All right then, Tomas Lopez, Executive Director of Democracy North Carolina. Congratulations again. Y'all have been doing an amazing job. You're a nonpartisan group, but you've been trying to get people to understand you can't have Republicans or Democrats

trying to stack the deck in that state. If you wanna win, do it fair and square and don't sit here and try to rig the game. And so y'all have been doing some great work. We really appreciate it. Thanks a lot. All right. Thank you.

All right. We're on my panel here. Malik, that's a big slap down to your party. It's to the Republicans in North Carolina. That's your party. Are you a Republican? Yes, but our party is not the party of voter suppression. Yes, you are.

No, we're not. You are the party of voter suppression. What the hell are you talking about? is not the party of voter suppression. Yes, you are. No, we're not. You are the party of voter suppression. What the hell are you talking about? You are the party of voter suppression. This is what's happening in North Carolina. Our party... Would you like for me to bring up... I'm sorry, would you like me to bring up Alabama and Texas and Florida? Our party's political apparatus

does not have anything about voter suppression in any of the documents. So it's not something... Really, while it may be something that Republicans actually do, this is not something that is wholly supported by the Republican Party. Has the Republican Party spoken out against any of this? Well, not speaking out against something, promoting things. So to that point, the Republican Party, so I'm talking about the Republican Party. No, I'm asking, Malik, has the Republican Party, has the Republican Party, can you even show me a tweet where the Republican Party has actually said the actions in North Carolina are wrong?

Whether it does or not, our party as a party does not support voter suppression. Yes, you do. No, we do not. You do it, wait a minute suppression. Yes, you do. No, we do not. You do it in Texas. No, we do not. And in Florida. And in Maine. This is not something that we do. Kelly, the Republican Party is all about voter suppression.

No, we're not. That's your characterization. Right now, Democrats are warning people in Ohio, right now, okay, to double-check your status because they're going to purge some 200,000 people. Why? Because Republicans in Ohio came up with the whole deal on how to purge people. A white man sued them because they said, oh, you haven't voted in the last couple of elections, so therefore we're taking your name off the rolls.

Went to the Supreme Court. That conservative Supreme Court agreed with Ohio, which now did the purging. The purging of voters in Georgia, largely impacting black voters. That's voter suppression. So, again, I can go state by state, Kelly, and show how Republicans and how Rona McDaniel, Rona Romney McDaniel, ain't said jack. Trump ain't said jack. If you don't say nothing, you damn sure agree with it.

Kelly, go ahead. What's your characterization of it, Roland? That's not a characterization. That is exactly what it is. So if I don't say that, if I don't agree with something and I don't verbalize anything about it, then it is going to be what it is. So the Republicans aren't saying anything about voter suppression. Instead, they are letting other Republicans suppress votes.

Well, I don't think there's any evidence that the actual political apparatus of the party is allowed to happen. Wait a minute. Silence is an accident. Jason, you know what's so funny about this here? There are Republican members from North Carolina. There are Republicans who sit on the Republican National Committee. They ain't said a damn thing about what the Republicans in North Carolina are doing. Well, has anybody asked them?

Hell yes. Yes. Yes. Well, has anybody asked them? Hell yes. Yes. I got to tell you. Yes. Jason, go ahead. I know, it's hilarious. I think, you know, number one, we know the Republicans are the party of, you know, of voter ID.

They're a party of many different efforts to suppress votes. Of course, closing down. Stacey Abrams lost because of all this, man closing down... Stacey Abrams lost because of all this mess. No, Stacey Abrams lost because she lost. No, they closed down... That's what she likes to say. They closed down voting sites

in predominantly black communities. So that was specifically targeted by the Kemp campaign. Now, beyond that, if you are doing the monkey emoji, you know, the monkey, you know what I mean? Hear no evil. Then you are actually guilty of being complicit. La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la.

I hear nothing. La, la, la, la, la. I don't want to hear it. That's just not even a reasonable way to actually do that. From Republicans, whether it's on Sinclair or whether it's on Fox or wherever, how often do I have to hear, why aren't you going to call this out by Democrats? Whatever it is. If any Democrat does anything anywhere in America, they are expecting Democrats to call it out. But yet we see where state Republican parties are clearly trying to suppress black votes.

And now we're saying, well, hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on. But this ain't just black. No, no. They're trying to suppress young voters. Right. Hell, elderly voters. Didn't they do something regarding colleges and not trying to have people

register at their dorms? Oh my God. First of all, the reason Malik needs to stop trying to be a troll right now is because Malik, your party literally

No, no, no. I don't want you to own it you i want you to acknowledge i want you to be honest that you saying i want you to stop lying it's the report is the party of voter suppression they are it's not something that i'm going to accept i disagree i disagree with a voter suppression federal judges federal judges again federal judges roll something federal judges, when federal judges rule, when federal judges, when federal judges rule that North Carolina Republicans targeted black folks with laser-like approach, I did not hear a single, a single peep out of any national Republican calling it an abomination. Saying that is wrong. Saying that is undemocratic. Saying that is unfair.

I don't know if they said it or not. No, they didn't. Hold on. We've covered it. We've covered it and they ain't said nothing. Kelly, go ahead. The fact that this case made it all the way to a court also shows just how much time it took for it to get there. This was not

an easy thing. This was not a quick thing, which also means... This was the 22nd time a state or federal court has said, y'all, this is some damn gerrymandering. And that's what I'm trying to say. So all of this evidence and no evidence of

Republicans saying, hey, don't do that in fact we have the opposite we have well i don't know if that's true or not that's that's probably an exaggeration but so no republican has ever spoken out about any of this hold up hold up wait wait wait wait wait wait wait hold up i'll see out millick i'll help you out. When Colin Powell was invited to North Carolina by the previous governor who was a Republican, Colin Powell called out the Republican governor and Republicans' efforts to suppress the vote. I remember that.

Republicans got mad at him. Let me say this again, y'all, because, again, we have been... I've been covering this issue since I've had a national show in 2009 okay i got nabj's national journalist of the year because of my coverage on voter suppression so i ain't sitting here just throwing stuff out let me get y'all to understand how callous how evil and how sick the Republican Party of North Carolina is.

Now, the National Republican Party has said nothing. Federal court ruled laser-like precision targeting black voters. Republicans in North Carolina asked for the data to show when do black people vote early. They showed that 70% of African Americans voted in the first week of early voting. Guess what the Republicans in North Carolina did? They stripped nearly all early voting in the state until reduced it to one location in each county in the first week. This is the same party that also moved early voting locations off of college campuses because they were like, ah, too many of them who are voting. This is the same party. North Carolina, y'all, used to be on the bottom. Just so y'all

understand, North Carolina used to be on the bottom of voter participation. 2008, Obama runs, wins North Carolina by 14,100 votes, flips that whole state. Republicans like, oh hell no. They immediately began to change the rules, aided by winning in 2010. In North Carolina, they used to have actually civic classes that would teach North Carolinians who were 16 and 17 to prepare them when they turned 18.

Republicans in North Carolina got rid of the classes. Voter ID. We can go down the line. What happened there? Now, why is Malik wrong about his whole party? Because his party saw what North Carolina did. So guess what? Texas did their own deal. Led by Republicans there.

Alabama. Maine. Let me tell you what they did in Maine. In Maine, they had automatic same-day registration. If you voted, when you went and vote, the Republicans in Maine got rid of it. Y'all, they didn't ask nobody. They just got rid of it. The voters in Maine said, what the hell is this? Put it back on the ballot

the next election and voted it back in. I can show you, state by state, how Republicans have tried to manipulate the vote. Y'all, y'all forget 2012 when the Obama campaign had to sue

Ohio when we're in a board of elections in Ohio where Republicans had a majority. They extended the voting hours in Ohio. But in the counties where we had Democrats, they actually limited, they got sued, and the Secretary where we had Democrats,

they actually limited, they got sued, and the Secretary of State, Republican, he had to admit in court, yeah, that's kind of unfair to have extended voting hours in Republican counties and shorter voting hours in Democratic counties. We can go, Florida, again, we can walk this thing down state by state. The Republican Party fully embraces voter suppression and all of those tactics

and see what Malik wants to do is play games by saying, oh no, there's no sheet of paper that says we love voter suppression. Folks, I can judge you by your actions and the reality is your party as a party has has not said, Jack, not Reince Priebus, not Ronald McDaniel Romney, none of them.

Not Trump, because you know why? Y'all benefit from voter suppression, and that's why your party supports it. Well, I don't know if that's the answer or not, but as I've said on this show, I don't support any effort to suppress the vote. Right, you don't, but as I've said on this show, I don't support any effort to suppress the vote. Right, you don't. But your party does. And so as a member of the party, I do know that I do not own the fact that that's something

that the party does. No, no, but you, but Mellon, you can say it's not right. Mellon, you can say it's not right, and I'm cool with that, but you can't be denied about your party. And there are people that I know in the party who also don't support that. Guess what?

And none of y'all are the RNC chair. None of y'all are the vice chair. Well, ask them their opinions on it. We have. Ask them their whole media. Millick, I had rights previous on the Times on the Morning show. And we have. And you know what?

They have. And they all support it. All of them. They about those issues? And they all support it. All of them. They should ask them. Because they all support it. I don't represent the RNC. Your party supports it. But they should ask them those questions if they don't know what to ask them.

Your party supports it. I'm going to go to a break, y'all, right now. And we come back. We're going to talk about Melix in Mississippi. Well, Christians in Mississippi, this Christian, we are, y'all can't have no wedding in our place of business, not with a black man and a white woman. Oh, no, you didn't. That's next on Roland Martin Unfiltered.

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RolandMartinUnfiltered.com I can't! Oh, that's my friend Gerald Albright. He's going to be one of the folks performing in Cabo for the Life Luxe Jazz Experience, folks. It's going to be unbelievable. November 7th through the 11th. Of course, we're going to have top-notch music in an upscale destination. Folks, it's going to be taking place,

the weekend-long event. It's going to be at the Omnia Day Club Los Cabos. You'll see it right behind me. Nestled on the Sea of Cortez in the Celebrity Playground of Los Cabos, Mexico. We're going to offer ultimate getaway for discerning jazz aficionados, folks. You're going to have, again, music and food and drink and all this fun stuff. Golf, spa, fitness, you name it. It's going to be fantastic.

And in addition, I'll be doing Roland Martin Unfiltered from there that Thursday and Friday. Some of the biggest names in jazz are gonna be there, folks. Among the people who are already confirmed, comedian actor Mark Curry, as I said, Gerald Albright, Alex Bunyan, Raul Madon, Incognito, Pieces of a Dream, my man Kirk Whalum, Average White Band,

Donnie McClurkin, Shalaya, Roy Ayers, Tom Brown, Ronnie Laws, Ernest Quarles. Folks, we're going to have a fantastic time. And of course, my birthday is actually about three days after the festival is over, so we can make it a birthday thing. And so I want y'all to come out to Cabo, folks, November 7th through the 11th. For more information right now, go to lifeluxjazz.com. Look, some of y'all are going to be in Chicago, Minneapolis. Y'all are going to be on the East Coast freezing your ass off, so you know you want to have some sun and fun. So

come on down to Cabo with me and the folks with Life Lux Jazz, November 7th through the 11th. For more information, go to lifeluxjazz.com. That's L-I-F-E L-U-X-E J-A-Z-Z dot com. It's gonna be fantastic.

Fantastic. I guarantee it. Alright, folks. Mississippi. Lord guarantee it. All right, folks. Mississippi. Lord have mercy. The owner of a wedding venue in Boonville, Mississippi, is now apologizing after turning away a couple who wanted to get married there when she found out the bride is a white woman and the groom is black. Press play.

First of all, we don't do gay weddings or mixed race. Okay. Because of our Christian race. I mean, our Christian belief. Okay. We're Christians as well. So what in the Bible tells you that? Well, I don't want to argue my faith. No, that's fine. Yeah. We just don't participate. Okay. We're just choosing on two. Okay, so that's your Christian belief, right? Yes, ma'am.

Okay. Well, Cambria Welch, the sister of the groom, confronted the owner. And again, she said, our Christian race, oh, I'm sorry, our Christian beliefs. The unidentified woman has since apologized, and the city of Booneville mayor and the board of aldermen issued a statement saying they do not discriminate on the basis of race religion gender age national order disability marital status sexual orientation or military status medic what what the hell is up with your state which is this is this is a very unfortunate case in such a great state um mississippi uh i clearly it seems as if in this particular case that things took care of itself. It's unfortunate that they had to cancel their plans to have a wedding at that venue. But the

fact that the mayor and I think it was someone else that you mentioned of Boonesville actually came out and talked about the fact that they don't endorse or condone any sort of discrimination. That just speaks to the great history, the great way that we've come. You don't want to bring up the great way that we have come. You heard him, Jason, say, you heard her say, our Christian race, I'm sorry, our Christian belief. Right, right. We've come a long way.

We Christians, too. Well, I ain't trying to argue Bible. Right. Yeah. I mean, that was just despicable, and I hope that no one else of color and certainly...

Hell, nobody. Nobody. White folks shouldn't get married there. And I imagine that... Shut them down. That's exactly what will happen. It reminds me of, I believe it was Thurgood Marshall, when they said, do you advocate Negroes not shopping at these chain stores? He said, no. I advocate that

American citizens not do that. And I think that whatever that company is and wherever that place is... I know that the social media for this particular venue has shut down. She took down the apology, I think,

because in the apology, and I quote, says, biracial relationships were never mentioned in the Bible. That's her claim to why she thinks these things. First of all, she's wrong. She's like, really wrong. Moses' wife is arguably

black. Queen of Sheba. Queen of Sheba. Jesus black. But I'm just talking Queen of Sheba. Jesus black. Jesus black. But I'm just talking about just like, you know, core things like just Old Testament stuff that a lot of

evangelicals really adhere to. Not the, you know, love your neighbor as yourself part. You know, not the do unto others part. But just the traditional things like Miriam, Moses' sister, but just the traditional things. Like Miriam, Moses' sister, actually was cursed by God. You're going to wait.

You're going to wait. I know. I'm going to. You ain't got to go that deep. This is a racist white woman. It's just. It's a racist white woman. And it took care of itself, it seems like.

It didn't take care of itself. That's what it seems like. After those people were humiliated. Well, of course they were humiliated. You know. Then post-humiliation. Look at what we have. Boy, boy, boy.

They were condemned. You have a racist state. That's what you have. Well, I don't were humiliated. Then post-humiliation, look at what we had. Boy, boy, bye. They were condemned. You have a racist state. That's what you have. Well, I don't have a racist state. You have many racist states. Well, I don't live in a racist state. Well, you got that Confederate symbol on your flag. I don't live in a racist state.

That's right, because you live in D.C. That's right, because you don't live in a state. You've been here for decades. The fact that you East Coast elitists have a problem. Actually, who the hell is East Coast? Kelly, where you from? Kelly, where you from? Mid-Atlantic elitists.

Kelly, where you from? I'm from here. Where you from, Jason? I'm from here. Mid-Atlantic, and then you being an elitist now. Hold on. How the hell is I'm a mid-Atlantic elitist and my ass from Houston? Because you share some of those elitists with people.

Your ass live in D.C. And what does that have to do with it? You know what you are? A mid-Atlantic elitist. Let me go to my next damn story. Boy, cut that bullshit out. Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot did not come to play with Senator Ted Cruz,

Republican senator from Texas, tweeted that gun control doesn't work and pointed to Chicago as evidence that disarming law-abiding citizens isn't the answer. Lightfoot responded by tweeting some facts for Cruz and ended the Twitter battle by telling him, quote, keep our name out of your mouth. And you probably scared to even go to Chicago. Dana Holcomb is calling out American Airlines for kicking him off a flight

so a dog could sit in first class. During a trip to Austin, Texas from a 53rd birthday celebration in Vegas, Holcomb was confirmed to fly in first class on American Airlines flight 691 after a layover in Phoenix. While on the flight, he discovered the passenger traveling beside him was accompanied by her pet support dog. Holcomb was alerted to dogs and started to have a reaction. The pet owner offered to change seats with someone else in first class, but the flight crew got involved. He was asked to move to the back of the plane. By the time the dog's owner found a passenger to exchange seats with Holcomb.

Security had been called, escorted him off the plane in Phoenix without his luggage or medication. He said he had to find his own way home. But I got to ask you this. What's up with these people in these services? Did y'all see this damn pony, this pony horse, whatever the hell? This woman had a pony horse on the plane.

Look, look, okay? If your ass need a pony horse to fly, take the damn bus. Right. Yeah, this is... I'm about tired of these people and these weird ass support animals. Like, it's not...

I thought it was a pony. Yeah, it was. Yo, this thing is... I'm telling you so okay This is something that they and I imagine that you know We're as we continue to have these sort of incidents that the airlines are going to more and more I think Delta was one recently who clarified their Emotional support because what it's been happening is is you know, their service and then emotional support. Go to my iPad.

Oh my God! That's a donkey! Yes! Mercy. That's a damn pony horse on a plane right behind first class. And the fact that the airlines even had to make an allowance for that.

No, no, no, that's a different story. Now, does the pony have a diaper on? Because what if that pony poops? Well, I guess it's the same as like a dog. I'm just taking that. I can't even think that far ahead. Yo, I'm serious. But the fact that they had to allow,

that they had no discretion, the airlines apparently had no discretion to say, look, that's a whole donkey. And you can't bring the donkey into the pool. It's not a donkey, it's a whole donkey. And you can't bring the donkey into the park. It's not a donkey, it's a pony horse. Pony horse, whatever the thing is. There is a difference. That's a whole pony horse. You can't bring that bad boy into the park.

I know some people who have post-traumatic stress disorder. But here's the deal. I think I have to support dogs. Hold up, watch this here. Go to my iPad. The number of passengers flying with emotional support animals has nearly doubled from 561,000 in 2016 to more than 1 million in 2018,

according to the estimates from Airlines for America. Now, look, man. Look, if flying is that rough, get your ass on a bus. Take a car. I wouldn't say that. There does need to be precautions regarding emotional support.

You know how crazy this thing has gotten? It has gotten insane. Insane. Somebody had a peacock once, I believe. I totally understand that sentiment. But at the same time, you have to recognize that mental health issues are real and that some of these animals, like dogs and cats and things, that can actually be on planes that have been naturally, or not naturally, but traditionally able to be on planes with passengers. Go to my iPad.

Here's another one. Here's another one. I have a question, though. This is another one. Go to my iPad. Yeah, see, that's a lot. See? But at the same time, so that's allowed.

Jason, go ahead. Is it, so do you have to provide any kind of evidence that this is an emotional support? And that's a letter for your dog. They actually have a certificate, yeah. Okay. That you can travel with you. I can see people wanting to bring their dogs. Okay, hold on. So here's a story from Fortune. Department of

Transportation, y'all, and this is some bullshit. I'm sorry. DOT clears pit bulls, miniature horses to fly as service animals. A damn pit bull. Well, here's the thing about pit bulls, though.

I'm not even an animal advocate. I want to be clear about that. But that's what I'm saying, because Marilyn tried to do the anti-pit thing, and... What's a good dog? You know, a pit. Hold on. Let me explain what I know about pit bull.

A pit bull is a pit bull. Pit bulls have mauled their own damn owners. Oh, listen. That's because you're thinking about the pit bulls that have been trained to maul people. Exactly. If you train a pit bull, they are the sweetest animals. Same thing with Rottweilers. So here's a little more.

Same thing with Rottweilers. Here's a little more. Y'all damn right. Here's a little more. Same thing with Rottweiler. Here's a little more. Y'all, I saw a damn mind. Here's a little more. Tell y'all right now, if your ass fly with me and a pit bull or Rottweiler with your ass, you ain't sitting. Matter of fact, we ain't on the plane. You getting your ass off. As someone who actually owns a pit bull named Magnus, a four-year-old red-nosed pit bull. Aw.

I actually, he actually is my ESA. Yo, what? He's my emotional support animal. What the hell? You can't fly by yourself? I don't use, I don't take him. Well, Roland, I'm not going to talk about that. What's wrong?

You can't fly by yourself? But. Well, all emotional support animals aren't on planes. Yeah, which is the point that I was trying to make. I can actually take him. You can't go to fly by yourself? But... Well, all emotional support animals aren't on planes. Yeah, which is the point that I was trying to make. I can actually take him... You can't go to one by yourself? I can take him on the train. I can take him on the plane.

I can take him in any store. In a pit bull? My 85-pound pit bull. Go to my iPad. Last year, last year, however, Delta Airlines banned pit bull-type dogs from his cabins on domestic flights after two employees were bit by a dog

that was labeled as an emotional support animal. And that was an improperly trained animal. Yes, absolutely. But I still would not take my dog. But I wouldn't take my dog to any of those places because I don't believe he's a disabled animal. That's a fact, though. That's a fact.

I'm a dog owner, and I don't even like dogs at restaurants. Exactly. So again, I don't have any pets right now. Like, I am completely pet-less. But what I will say is, one, mental health is a real thing that needs to be addressed. And for some, emotional support animals are a key in their mental health.

So that said, if you need an emotional support animal on a plane, that should be allowed within reason. I can understand. The little pony dogs. The pony, that's a lot. Another question. Do you have to buy another ticket? Like, do they have to have their own seat?

I think it depends on the line. Yeah, well, I've never. I think it depends on the airline. You know, because I'm wondering, you know. I've never even wanted to. There are people who are overweight who have to buy an extra seat. Exactly. Yeah.

So if we're going to let you bring a dog and you don't have to purchase another seat. I've never considered it. Those are the kind of policies that need to be considered. I don't care if it's an emotional support animal or not. Little pony dogs. Or two. Little pony dogs. No.

Yeah. You got a freaking horse on that. Get your ass on the bus. I don't care. I don't care. You can be mad. Let me tell you something. Y'all can be mad at me

all y'all want to, okay? You should not be flying with a damn pony horse. You should not be flying with a pit bull. You should not be flying with a damn Rottweiler. That's a little different.

It's no... Okay, there y'all go. All right. Yeah, yeah. A golden retriever can maul you. Yeah, okay. A Malamute can maul you. Yeah, yeah. A golden retriever can maul you. Yeah, okay. A Malamute can maul you. Yeah, okay.

A Chihuahua is the most aggressive and aggressive dog on the planet. Hey, I ain't trying to fly with none of them. I'd sooner have a pit bull than a dog. Hey, if you're going to fly with a dog, put that dog in a little bitty ass bag. That way, no, but the least you're walking around. Now, look, if you a member of the U.S., if you're walking around... Now look, if you're a member of the military, that's my only

exception. But the rest of y'all flying with damn pony horses, if you that emotionally... You need that much help. If you need that much help, that you need to fly with a pony horse, bus,

Greyhound would gladly take you. What about overseas? Yeah, but I don't want you on a Greyhound with your dog. Hey, boat? Boat? Boats? None of it. Fine. Riddler car. Alamo. Avis.

Enterprise. National. Enterprise. Thrifty. Dollar. Hertz. Pick one. Don't get your ass on a damn plane with a pony horse.

I agree with that. I got it. Yeah, that's all right. What the hell we trying to give rides and shit to kids on a plane? Guess what, kids? We got a surprise for y'all. You can ride a pony horse on a plane.

A whole pony horse. I actually would like that for my kids, to be honest. OK, now, OK. See, now I have to. OK, y'all, last story. Last story. I ain't even, I'm done. I'm done.

Last story. She not from Mississippi, but she is the crazy ass white person of the week. She must be from Texas. No charcoal girls are allowed. I'm not a new... I'm white. I got you, girl.

Illegally selling water without a permit? On my property. Whoa! Hey! Give me your ID. You don't live here. I'm uncomfortable. This ignorant-ass woman we about to show y'all

called the cops on a man because she didn't recognize who he was and she said he looked illegal. What are you saying about what? What? Hello? Lindor Police? Hello?

I have a commenter, the a guy that lives in the bush. He's coming out of the bushes. He's trying to take pictures of me. He looks illegal. I'm at Walmart. There's a guy, a police officer. He's illegal, but he's a police officer. He's coming out of the bush without Walmart in Lindor.

He punched somebody for an outfit. Can he come get him? He's taking a picture of me. Hi. He's being weird. He's from Mexico. The other guy behind him might snap my neck. Do we live here?

Are you from Africa? I'm from Lindor. Hi. This guy's so weird right now. He's going to drive a truck out of here and use illegal drugs. The address is Glendora Walmart. Can you Google that before he moves out? Because he's going to take off and he's gone.

Can we get it off over here fast enough? I'm going to block this fucking truck. I'm going to block the fucker's truck. I'm going to block this fucker's truck that doesn't belong in Glendora. Who are you? Who's this motherfucker that doesn't belong? Do you have a green card? He works with those guys over there.

No, no, no, no, no. I don't know who this guy is. He works with those guys over there. How do you know? Do you know who he is? He works with those guys over there. He came out of the bushes. He works with those guys all the morning.

Who's those guys? Is it the railroad company? No, no, no, no, no, no. Who's the guy that works with those guys over there. He came out of the bushes. He works with those guys on the border. Who's those guys? Is it the Railroad Company? ILB, International Line. Okay, because I don't know this guy. He's videotaping me and he looks creepy for Mexico.

He's speaking broken English, La Migra. Okay, that's super racist. It's not racist. It is racist. No, it's not. Yes, it is. I have a friend down the street. Wow. No, it's not. Yes, it is. I have a friend down the street. Wow. No, it's not.

He's been beating people long in Mexico. No, I've seen a guy beat up. That's racist. No, it's not racist. It is. My dad is black. All he has to do is tell people to stay away from drugs. My dad is black.

I'm not racist. This guy's from Mexico. They pump people and they fucking don't know everybody's goddamn illegal shit. Do you understand? Yeah. My dad's black. Don't call me racist, asshole. My family works as long as you.

Oh, okay. So what? I'm not a racist. I'm a racist. I understand? Yeah. My dad's black. Don't call me racist, asshole. My family works long. Oh, okay. So what? I want to make sure this guy's legit. I don't want him punking so much. So he can be punking your fucking job, taking your fucking outfit, working to get paperwork. I have all my paperwork over here. My dad's black, asshole. My dad's fucking black. It's not racist, stupid. Don't tell me I'm racist because he's Mexican.

My little nephew's Italian, Mexican, and Aloha. Stupid fuck. Don't tell me I'm racist. This fucker is coming out the bushes, telling me to move my car because he can't park straight, fucker. Stupid ass. I want to know who this piece of shit is. Oh, y'all had to find a long one? Oh my God, there was more to it. Wait, what?

She was like, yeah, he's probably taking your job. I tell y'all, Trump done got these people just losing their mind here. Don't put that on Trump. That's just racism, bigotry, prejudice that has existed. Yeah, but the white folks have been calling the cops like crazy since 2016. Yeah, but I think we probably are just seeing these things videotaped more.

I don't know if they are. We had cameras in 2015. We had phones in 2015. But I think that this is something that now when you have people are just really using their cameras to catch all sort of things, not just this sort of racism and prejudice and bigotry, but all sorts of things. So keep keep keep videotaping. And I hope her family sees it. I hope her church. I hope her black dad sees it.

Doesn't mean anything. You know what I mean? I don't mean anything. I guess there's some crazy black people out there, too. But did you hear what came out of your mouth? She knows an aloha. And what does that mean? Hawaii?

She saying a US territory? Y'all, first of all, she said aloha. Then she said a DC came from Africa. Y'all, she try, OK, she use every racist possible term. I'm not racist. My daddy black, girl. You ignorant. And she just kept on.

What does it mean to be punk in somebody's job? I don't even. This is some stuff. Is that when we do it like a prank on them? You're trying to make common sense. I'm like, what was she? You're trying to make common sense, y'all. I can't even.

I can't even. I can't even. He was trying to get out of the parking lot. Y'all, she crazy. Right, right. Should have rolled over her ass. She's an embarrassment. Should have made her a speed bump.

All right, y'all. First of all, we go in on this note here, y'all, over the weekend. Naomi Osaka reigning U.S. Open tennis champ. She played Cocoa Golf. Won a hell of a race, a match. And she blew away Cocoa Golf in that second set, 6-0. Tears were flowing for the 15-year-old. but if you want to see what what sportsmanship looks like osaka asked her uh to participate with her in the post-game interview and it was it was certainly uh a

dramatic moment a lot of people were reduced to tears uh again just an amazing uh scene those two of course you also had several other sisters who competed in the U.S. Open. You have another sister who advanced. Osaka lost, actually, in the next round. Serena is still in it as well. So, yeah, just an amazing display of their sportsmanship. Black girls rock.

Absolutely. And, you know, I love that because, you know, Coco looks like one of my nieces, and Naomi Osaka looks like my daughter. So I got really emotional looking at that, you know, Coco looks like one of my nieces, and Naomi Osaka looks like my daughter. So I got really emotional looking at that, you know, and her proud parents. And we see particularly in tennis, I think, you know, the involvement of black parents,

particularly black fathers, and what they do in mentoring their daughters and trying to see their daughters succeed, I think it's a beautiful thing. In the case of both of them, their fathers were the initial coaches. Absolutely. Yeah. No, and for I think it's a beautiful thing. In the case of both of them, their fathers were the initial coaches. Absolutely. Yeah.

And for me, it's just they're still so young. Like Coco is what, 16? 15. 15 years old. And the fact that these are more, well, Osaka is 21 now, but the fact that they're more or less children who are actually teaching the world how to be true sportsmen that that just speaks volumes the fact that they're black and they're girls and the black girl magic

is just sprinkled all over that moment is one thing and i definitely commend that but well first i think osaka understood how emotional it was because again golf lost 6-0 in that second set and what happened to her last year in the finals when the crowd was really cheering for Serena, the whole drama with the umpire, and then, of course, Osaka wins, and how she handled that as well. And also, folks, right now, Serena... Somebody posted on YouTube that Serena is out,

that she was open. No, she's not. She's playing right now. She up 3-0 in the first set. I didn't say that. I read that. No, somebody... You read what? I think I read some foolishness like that, that she was supposed to be getting on.

Dude, it's a live match right now. Yeah. It's the quarterfinals right now. Serena's playing. She's up 3-0. Yeah. She's playing Wayne Kwong. Right now. It's called live. I mean, no, I wasn't saying that. What the hell were you reading? No, I said that I read...

Something Mississippi? See? Room, just heard. I'm just checking. All right, y'all. One thing I, one thing I panel here. Thanks a lot.

Mellick, trust me, go talk to your Republican about voter suppression. Trust me, they'll confirm it. All right, y'all. Tomorrow is the first anniversary of

Rolling Byte Unfiltered. We launched this show one year ago, September 4th, 2018. It's been a fantastic year of, of course, lots of content. We're going to have some good stuff for you tomorrow. I'm going to share with you some stats to give you an indication

of how good last year has been. Blowing my expectations is all because of you, all the folks who have been watching us on YouTube, Facebook, and Periscope. So we're going to have that for you as well. Don't forget, if you want to support what we do, please join our Bring the Funk fan club. This is an independent news operation. We are not corporately owned. We do this thing largely because of our partners and because of you. So please go to RolandMartinUnfiltered.com.

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And so I look forward to seeing you guys tomorrow. I got to go. I'll see what you guys have time to do on the morning show at 7.15 a.m. Eastern on Wednesday and right here at 6 p.m. Eastern, Roland Martin, Unfiltered. Holla! Martin! I know a lot of cops. They get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future

where the answer will always be no. This is Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. Listen to Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Glott. And this is Season 2 of the War on Drugs podcast. Yes, sir.

Last year, a lot of the problems of the drug war. This year, a lot of the biggest names in music and sports. This kind of starts that a little bit, man. We met them at their homes. We met them at their recording studios. Stories matter, and it brings a face to them. It makes it real. It really does.

It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. We asked parents who adopted teens to share their journey. We just kind of knew from the beginning that we were family. They showcased a sense of love that I never had before.

I mean, he's not only my parent, like he's like my best friend. At the end of the day, it's all been worth it. I wouldn't change a thing about our lives. Learn about adopting a teen from foster care. Visit AdoptUSKids.org to learn more. Brought to you by AdoptUSKids, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the Ad Council. This is an iHeart Podcast.