#RolandMartinUnfiltered - Dems' For the People Act; Unusual restrictions ahead of Capitol riot; $ stolen in COVID unemployment

Episode Date: March 4, 2021

3.3.21 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: Dems' For The People Act to expand voting rights protections; DC National Guard commander says 'unusual' Pentagon restrictions slowed response to Capitol riot; Republicans and a majority of Democrats voted to keep incarcerated people from voting; Missouri High Court rejects Lamar Johnson appeal; St. Louis Mayoral candidate Tishaura Jones talks mayoral runoff; Shalanda Young being vetted for White House Office of Management and Budget; Anti-Trump conservatives launch $1M campaign in support of civil rights lawyer Vanita Gupta; Billions stolen in COVID unemployment funds; Amazon manager is suing over racial discrimination; California's largest local teachers union is slamming the state's new school reopening plan Support #RolandMartinUnfiltered via the Cash App ☛ https://cash.app/$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. 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 starts that a little bit, man.

We met them at their homes. We met them at the recording studios. Stories matter and it brings a face to it. 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 podcast, or wherever you get your podcast.

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. today is wednesday march 3rd 2021 coming up on roland martin unfiltered congress all day has been discussing on the floor of the house H.R. 1, which is

critically important to ensuring that we have fair voting laws in this country. We'll be joined by New York Congressman Mondaire Jones, plus our continuing coverage of voter suppression in Georgia. More drama there. Also on Capitol Hill, D.C. National Guard Commander William Walker testified today about what happened during the Capitol insurrection and how he was told he had opportunity for troops to go to the Capitol in June when Black Lives Matter protested, but not when the MAGA Trump people did. Also, Republicans and the majority of Democrats voted to keep incarcerated people from participating in elections. The Missouri Supreme Court has rejected an appeal from convicted murderer Lamar Johnson.

St. Louis County Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner disagrees with that decision. Also, Tashara Jones came in first last night. The St. Louis mayoral race she now heads into an April 6 runoff. We'll talk with her. Plus, Shalonda Young is being put forth by the Biden administration to run the Office of Management and Budget. Of course, that's after near attendant had her name withdrawn. Also, folks, conservatives, they're launching a one million dollar ad campaign in support of civil rights lawyer Vanita Gupta's nomination as associate attorney general. And of course, also, also, they've been targeting Kristen Clark, the lawyers committee.

What is it, Republicans don't like civil rights lawyers? Yeah, I thought so. Plus, criminals, they stole billions in COVID-19 unemployment benefits. We'll talk about why a new relief bill won't prevent it from happening again. And an Amazon manager is suing over racial discrimination. Plus, California's largest local teachers union

slamming the state's new school reopening plan, saying it's the recipe for propagating structural racism. Hmm. And today's Crazy as White People segment is a little different. It deals with campaign financing. Y'all, it is time to bring the funk of Roland Martin 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, it's Uncle Roro, y'all. Yeah, yeah, it's Rollin' Martin. 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, yeah, H.R. 1, a massive voting rights overhaul that would ban partisan gerrymandering, expand voting rights protections, impose new restrictions on campaign finance, and more. If passed, it would be the most significant such law since the Voting Rights Act was passed in 1965.

The bill is named after the late Congressman John Lewis, who, of course, focused on that for the balance of his life. Now, Republicans have been battling this for quite some time. The reason this bill is important is because of what took place when the Supreme Court in 2013 invalidated the Shelby v. Holden decision, which pretty much stripped away most of Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act. The Supreme Court also this week heard challenges to Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. This bill is important because it will stop a lot of the voter suppression happening in states like Georgia. The question is, will Democrats in the Senate, like Christian Sienema and Joe Manchin and Senator Dianne Feinstein, stop supporting the filibuster for some insane reason? That's the only way this is going to get passed.

Joining me right now is New York Congressman Mondaire Jones. Congressman, glad to have you on Roland Martin Unfiltered. And certainly congratulations on your election. It's called H.R. 1 for a reason. I have been saying after the COVID relief bill, this need to be first. Next up, the George Floyd Justice Act. This is critically important because we are seeing in 43 states across the country, Republicans trying to launch the biggest voter suppression against black folks and others since Jim Crow.

That is exactly right, Roland. And it's so awesome to be here today with you and your viewers. This is unlike anything we have seen, at least since the civil rights movement. And I was so grateful to hear you describe this bill, the For the People Act, as the most significant voting rights legislation since that Voting Rights Act of 1965. This bill is a huge piece of legislation, and it contains a lot of great things. The stuff that I tend to emphasize are automatic voter registration, which would enfranchise an additional 50 million people nationally, an end to the partisan gerrymandering of congressional districts, and the substitution of independent redistricting commissions so that Republican-controlled state legislatures, of which there are many in the United States of America, don't dilute black voters by throwing

them all into one district or by scattering them across multiple districts. We also, in this legislation, have included public financing of congressional elections. You know, one of the reasons people, when they get to the United States Congress, debate the need for $2,000 survival checks in the midst of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression is because they are completely untethered from reality. Congress is full of millionaires who disproportionately are the folks who are able to win congressional elections. I know firsthand, not as a millionaire, but as someone who defied the odds and defeated

a billionaire who spent $5.4 million of his own money in my own race, and a lot of folks didn't think I could win. I should not be the exception to the rule. We need more working class folks elected to the United States Congress. And of course, those folks will disproportionately be people of color. And we will get more representative policies coming out of the United States Congress that improve the lives of everybody, including racial justice. You know, it's a shame that it's taken so long to do something like pass

the George Floyd Justice and Policing Act, as well as so many other great things that we urgently need in this country. The thing here, when we talk about what they're doing. And let me, I don't think white Democrats really understand what's at stake here. When you talk about the Supreme Court last year and their ruling, allowing partisan gerrymandering, Supreme Court allowing there to be the purging of voter rolls. If Republicans are able to do this and that they are able to win the House next year and that's doable, if they're able to take back the Senate, they could then pass, put into law bills solidifying their voter suppression and with them controlling the Supreme Court at 63 or conservative majority, that could very well shut us down when it comes to voting and making it difficult the next 10, 20 years. This is real. It is a true emergency in this country.

This is existential stuff. We have one major political party, that party being the Republican Party, that because it is unable to compete on the merits of its policy ideas has devoted itself to disenfranchising disenfranchising large swathes of the american electorate and by that i mean black people hispanic people young people

and lower income people like the family that i grew up in uh... you know this is a very this is very deliberate stuff that's being done. We've now seen hundreds of bills in the wake of that free and fair election that resulted in President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris introduced in state legislatures all across this country to make it more difficult for black and brown people to vote. And you're absolutely right. It remains a very real possibility

that in a midterm election, as historically has been the case, the party who controls the White House will lose the majority in the House of Representatives. We can stop that from happening, but the way to do it is to pass the For the People Act. And then, then of course in a few months is my expectation that we will pass HR for the John Lewis voting rights advancement act but to your point about the United States Supreme Court we've got to build a record to make it the most likely to survive constitutional scrutiny because the same court that struck down

you know that gutted basically section 5 of the Voting Rights Act in that 2013 Shelby decision is more conservative today, more hostile to democracy today than it was even in 2013. It's why I'm also proud to be the leading proponent in the United States Congress of expanding the size of the Supreme Court. It is an issue of racial justice, among other things. So, Congressman, how in the world do y'all get the attention of seeing him up from Arizona where the case for the Supreme Court is from her state? How do you get the attention of Joe Manchin to understand and also Senator Feinstein that this

laying at the feet and loving, oh we gotta have bipartisanship with the filibuster screws us and actually it screws the party because if Republicans win next year, 2022, they're in the minority. How do y'all get to them to understand that you're not going to get 10 votes? Let's just be real clear. You're not going to get 10 Republican votes in the Senate. It ain't happening. The only way the House passes this, the only way this becomes law is if 50 Democrats stand together and stop the filibuster and get rid of the filibuster to pass this law and send the President Biden for a signature.

You know, these Republicans in the Senate and in the House are people who mostly do not even acknowledge that President Biden was the victor in that November presidential election. And despite nearly dying on January 6th in that violent white supremacist-led insurrection at the Capitol that I lived through, along with the rest of them in the House and in the Senate, they declined overwhelmingly to acquit the former president of the United States. So these are not people who can be engaged in good faith. They are not looking for that. And so I agree with you completely that we need 50 Democrats in the United States Senate

to acknowledge that they did not run for office just to do nothing when they got there, and that the things that they ran on are only possible through either reforming or repealing the filibuster. And I remain optimistic that they will come to that conclusion. I look at someone like Amy Klobuchar, who was no one's progressive in the United States Senate, who today said, you know what? Enough is enough. We've got to pass this legislation. Our Republican colleagues are not good faith actors. We've seen that time and time again. The filibuster was not meant to block progress urgently needed by the American people.

And of course, I look at someone like Kyrsten Sinema, a history maker in her own right in the LGBTQ community. I'm sure she wants to pass the Equality Act to finally enshrine in federal anti-discrimination law protections for the LGBTQ community. And so on and so forth. We look at the popularity of a $15 minimum wage and this COVID relief bill generally, 77% as of today of the American people support this. Talk about bipartisanship. And so I remain optimistic that there will be either reform or repeal of the filibuster, even if people today are not saying it. But that means we have to continue to make our views loud and clear, and the American

people must rise up and hold folks accountable at the ballot box. All right. Congressman Mondaire Jones, I know you guys got votes all day. We really appreciate you joining us right here in Roland Martin Unfiltered. Thank you so much, Roman. Pleasure to be here. All right. Thank you so very much. Folks, as we've been talking about, I mean, this is just to understand how significant this is. And let's just be real clear. You're not getting it from these other networks. You're not. I mean, you're getting cursory coverage from these networks.

They're not really focused on how significant and major this is, how dramatic this this very issue is because what we are seeing, what we are seeing here take place is a Republican party that is so angry that they lost the White House, is so angry that they don't control the United States Senate, is so angry that they don't control the United States House, that what they want to do is they want to go even further in terms of making it difficult, making it impossible for folks to win. They admit it before, listen to me clearly, they admit it before the U.S. Supreme Court this week. We showed it to you on yesterday. They admit it.

They need voter suppression to win. They said, oh, it's going to give an unfair advantage to Democrats. Really? Really? And see, what people have to understand, the Supreme Court has ruled, and we covered this, they rule that they have no role to play in partisan gerrymandering. So when I say partisan gerrymandering, what they've done is they have pretty much locked down, let me be clear, they pretty much locked down these red states.

In Wisconsin, partisan gerrymandering showed that Democrats could win 55% of the vote and still not control the chamber. So what Republicans are doing, they're trying to, because of the census, they're trying to craft these states to where they completely control them. So they control the House, the state legislature. Then they control the Senate. Then they control the governor's mansions. Right now, more than 30, they control more than 30 right now. That folks is what I need you to understand that is going on before us and how major this is.

And so when we go beyond the issue of gerrymandering, we start talking about purging. We start talking about how they want to outlaw and make it a misdemeanor crime to give people food and water. Do you understand how crazy this is? How nonsensical this is? And what Republicans are doing, I'm just going to play it for you because here's the idiot from Texas, Congressman Dan Crenshaw. Listen to this sheer stupidity. Speaker, I rise today in opposition to H.R. 1. And I've always found it interesting that elections are the one thing my colleagues on the other side don't want to strictly regulate.

See, there's this mythology amongst Democrats that common sense rules in an election are synonymous with voter suppression. They make it sound like you have to go through an obstacle course to go vote. This isn't true. It's nonsense and everybody knows it. Truth is that four out of five Americans support voter ID laws and countless Americans have expressed concern because they receive mail-in ballots for other people addressed to their homes. They want this fixed, and they don't want the problem to get worse. But this bill makes elections less trustworthy, not more. And trust is everything. When people can see the faults in the process, whether it's ballots at the wrong house or careless verification

processes they believe people are cheating you can't just dismiss that we have to fix it but instead this bill makes permanent the problematic election practices that cause distrust for example ballot harvesting which creates serious chain of custody now i want i want you let me unpack what you just heard. People have questions. They think it's been stolen. So, who told them the lie? Folks like Dan Crenshaw.

That's like saying, you stole my lunch money. It's in your pocket. Yeah, but I think you stole it. But it's in your pocket. Yeah, but it doesn't matter. There's actually my pocket. I think you stole it. Y'all, that's what these fools are doing. Because Donald Trump went out here and run in his mouth and got these fools all hyped up and concerned. I want y'all new friends. Election integrity. Republican secretaries of state Republican Election chairs

All said The election was safe and sound No, no, no, no, it wasn't It was not safe Why do you think it wasn't safe? Because we lost So you're telling me that had you won, it was safe? Yes. So you, you, get this straight. So because y'all lost and

because y'all are crazy and because y'all tried to invalidate the votes of black people on January 6th, we somehow are supposed to believe that y'all, we supposed to trust you dumbasses. Do you think for a second, I trust any Republican who says voter integrity? Hell no. Do you actually think I'm going to listen to any Republican who believed that Donald Trump had the election stolen from him? Hell no. Do you actually think I'm going to waste any time giving cretin to these fools? Hell no. News conference today, we live streamed it. Speaker Nancy Pelosi speaking on H.R.1. To suppress the vote, to suppress the vote, how could it be? How do we pledge allegiance to the flag in this capital, this temple of democracy, while at the same time supporting voter suppression

across the country. So what we are doing in this fight that we're engaged in is to empower the people. This is called the For the People Bill. And in doing so, we combat big, dark, special interest money in politics and amplify the voice of the American people. We fight foreign interference in our elections, foreign interference in our elections. We expand voting rights. We fight political gerrymandering and we crack down on corruption. The bill, as Mr. Sarbanes says, caffeinates every other issue because it gives people confidence that if we come down on the side of the people's interest, not the special interest, we will be able to have policies that are for the people,

policies to help us build back better, to end a pandemic and address economic disparities and gun violence and by promoting gun violence prevention, which we hope to do shortly, to have a national reckoning on racial injustice and to address the surging climate crisis. Just to name a few issues that are affected and again to raise the minimum wage, just to name a few issues that are affected. And again, to raise the minimum wage, just to address a few issues that are affected by big, dark money weighing in in the Capitol. Let's go to my panel. A. Scott Bolden, Chair of the National Bar Association for the Action Committee, Monique Presley, Crisis Manager and Lawyer, Robert Portillo, of course Association for the Action Committee, Monique Presley. Crisis manager and lawyer, Robert Portillo.

Of course, with the Rainbow Push Peachtree Street Project in Atlanta. All right, folks. Let's really unpack this. And I want to start with this here. Who the hell needs to have a coming to Jesus conversation with Siena Manchin and Feinstein is it Schumer is it Biden because I'm gonna tell you right now um Robert these same Democrats they are asking for 50 to 100,000 people to come to D.C. and let them feel that heat if they sit here and not move on this bill once it gets past the House? You're absolutely correct. There's a line from

Hamilton where they say, we're in a battle for our nation's very soul. And that's where we're at as America. Let's understand it's no longer Republicans and Democrats. It's the American people versus the MAGAs. And they are not going to give up. They're not going to stand down. They will fight to the death. Let's understand the Republican Party has decided to no longer be a political party in America. years, Republicans have not won the popular vote in any presidential election since 2004. There are high school seniors who have never seen a Republican win the popular vote in the presidency. If you want to go back further, before 2004, it was 1988 the last time the Republicans won the popular vote in America, meaning in the last 32 years, they have won the popular vote one time. Right now, the 50 Republican senators represent about 41 million fewer American people. And for that reason, they have to use things such as racial gerrymandering, voter suppression, and other tactics and schemes in order to win elections. Donald Trump in 2020 did not even attempt to win the popular vote. He simply tried to carve a thin electoral map that would get him re-election. And but for about 66,000 people. 66,000 votes is really the margin of victory for Joe Biden

because even though he won by 7 million votes, they really came down to about 66,000 votes in the swing states of Georgia, Pennsylvania, Arizona, and Nevada that won him the election. So what Republicans understand is they cannot and will not allow for anything such as the John Lewis Voting Rights Act to go through. They cannot and will not allow any systemically targeted initiatives to reform the voting system, because if there was a fair election system in America, as Donald Trump said,

if we had voting to that level, we'll never win an election again. As Ted Cruz said, if you allow that many people to vote, we won't be able to win elections. As was said in the Supreme Court today, with regards to the Arizona voter suppression laws, that they are at a competitive disadvantage, the more people that vote. So for these reasons, I think you have to get to Feinstein and Sinema and Manchin and let them, help them to understand that your political future is not as important as the future of our democracy. Your political future is not as important as the future of our democracy. Your political future is not as important as the republic. And if you have to go down in flames in 2022 because you supported the cause of justice and democracy in this nation,

then so be it, but stand up for what is right and move the nation forward. And until and unless that happens, we will end up with a severe minority rule that pervades to the most extreme measures of society. And that is where we are at now, where people will not simply accept general mathematics and simple physics, which says that Donald Trump lost the election. Those people aren't coming around. You have to end the filibuster and get this legislation passed. The thing here, Monique, is if you're Sinema, your ass will lose in 2022 if no action is taken. This section two, they're talking Latinos in the West. That's how she won. That's how Mark Kelly won. That's how she won. That's how Mark Kelly won.

That's how Biden won. I'm just trying to understand what in the hell world are they living in than the rest of us? Do they not see what Republicans are trying to do all across the country?

In Arizona, the governor expanded the state Supreme Court three or four years ago. What the hell? I ain't even from Arizona, and I see a game-recognized game. I was waiting for a question. Hi, everyone.

That was a damn question. That was a question. That was a statement and the damn sermon. It was definitely statement and sermon. Here's the thing. The filibuster is one of those feast or famine type issues. And sometimes our members of Congress are thinking about, yes, we want to get rid of it now because it helps us as we are in power in 24 months, what will things look like? How many things will be pushed through, railroaded through, that we would have wished we had the power to stop? So I don't think it is that these particular members are ignoring their constituency or don't stand for these concerns.

We know that they do. We know the history of these members. These are things, issues that they support and legislation that they support. So the question, as you asked originally, was who can get through to them? I think ultimately this is going to be a test for new leader Schumer. And this is then going to be a test for the vice president as go-between and for the president in order to bring them over to what is, we believe, the right side, but I think that starts with respect for their positions because they, they're not based in folly. They, they have legitimate concerns. I respect this shit, Scott. No, no, no, no. Here's the deal. Republicans had no problem getting rid of the filibuster for Supreme court justices.

Now, let's go back. They love to say Harry Reid is the reason why we have the problem. No. Harry Reid, Senator Harry Reid, when he was majority leader, he said, Republicans, y'all are stopping Obama's district judges. Y'all are stopping Obama's district judges. Y'all are stopping the circuit judges. OK, Reid said he kept waiting. He kept pleading.

Republicans like hell no, we blocking everybody. He then did the nuclear option for those judges, kept it in place for appeals court judges, as well as for Supreme Court justices. Republicans, that's not right. That's not fair. This is just wrong. You shouldn't be doing this. This is against our rules. This is not bipartisanship.

So what happened? McConnell blocked Merrick Garland. Trump wins. He gets the seat. All of a sudden, Ruth Bader Ginsburg dies. What did McConnell do? Did McConnell respect the filibuster? Did McConnell, was he concerned about the norms and the procedures and the process?

Was McConnell concerned? Follow me here to what Monique just said. Was McConnell worried about them losing in 2020? Yeah, that's why he did it. And guess what they got? A Supreme Court justice who's young, who they want to be there for the next 40 years. Republicans say, yo, we might lose,

but while we got the power, we're going to exercise the power. That's what you do. Yeah, yeah. The Republicans are far more political gangster than the Democrats. And what needs to happen is Manchin and these others need to realize they're in the Democratic Party. And this is about power and accountability. That's the first thing, whether it's Schumer or the vice president or the president. Because here's the thing on H.R. 1. Those three, it helps them in the Senate. It helps them get reelected. It doesn't cost them their seat. That expands the votes. And most of those people, those voters, I don't care what jurisdiction it is, have voted for the Democrats when the Democrats are being suppressed by the Republicans from that political gangster party does it. And then we want to have a conversation about policy and righteousness and equality. No, we need some political gangsters on our side and say, listen, yes, this is going to be a power move because we don't know what 2022

holds. We got to get these in, locked in as far as the law, but fairness, justice, and equality so that more Democrats get elected in 2022, 24, and 26 and beyond. And we don't know how long this power is going to last because Mitch McConnell and Republicans will certainly take that view and could care less about being right. All they care about is power. And we need some political gangsters on the Democratic side to feel the same way. You don't go to a gunfight with a knife. We keep showing up with knives. Republicans got guns, right? We need some gunners on our side and just be gangster about political power while we have it. Georgia State Representative, one second, Georgia State Representative Calvin Smyre joins us right now.

Representative Smyre, you are having to deal with this as we speak. You are seeing gangster Republicans use their power, wield that power. Are you calling on Manchin, Sinema, Feinstein to stop tripping on the filibuster and say we will pass this voting bill? Because otherwise, if the Democrats in Congress do not pass this voting bill because otherwise, if the Democrats in Congress do not pass this bill, y'all are screwed in Georgia. Black folks are screwed in North Carolina as well as in Florida and other states. Well, the front that we're facing now, Martin, Roland, is the attempt to roll back the gains that we made here in the state of Georgia. The bill that we just, I'm on the special committee for election integrity

that was just recently appointed, and we just had a vote a couple of days ago on House Bill 531, which was the regression and suppression bill that passed on the floor of the House of Representatives. So any help we can get, not from Congress, we welcome it. But we had a difficult fight on the floor of the House as we looked at issues that deal with early voting. And anytime you cause voter confusion, then you cause a voter suppression. So we're trying our best to fight back here in the state of Georgia as it relates to all the bills that are coming forth.

We had 901 bills introduced in the Georgia House based on the voting in the last election. So that's what we're dealing with here in the state of Georgia as we speak. And let's be clear here. What's happening in Georgia, they have the power. They control the House. They control the Senate. They control the governor's mansion in their own bill they they they are stripping power from the republican secretary of state because they're mad that he believed in fairness and not partisanship they don't give a

damn about rules yeah well you you you make a point there. The Secretary of State is elected statewide as the chief election officer in our state. And the bill that just was passed, a governor would appoint a civilian, an individual to oversee the election, and when they do

that, become chairman of the state election board. So why do you need a Secretary of State when you're going to appoint someone that will oversee the elections in Georgia? And to me, that is so contrary, and that's totally bad public policy. If you had a chance to come to Washington, D.C., and you were sitting in front of Manchin,

Siena, and Feinstein, what do you tell them? Well, this juncture, you know, we as state legislators, and especially our southern states, are rolling. You've seen what happens in the southern states. And the rolling back of any voting rights is a very difficult process for us, especially those of us that serve in southern states. And when we lost, most of our power was lost on preclearance, as you remember, in the Voting Rights Act. And now we don't have that as a backstop. So what troubles us mostly in the southern states

is that we face reapportionment. We're getting ready now to reapportion our, later this year, the entire House and Senate here in the state of Georgia. And we don't have a preclearance as a backstop. And so we don't have the sake of the attorney general nor the Justice Department to assist us in that process. And to me, that is one of the most needed weapons that we had in the past. But when the Republicans took over the national level, of course, they eliminated preclearance. So we can use all the help we can here when it comes to the political situation in our southern states.

And you understand that scenario. And and now we have the House, the Senate and and and sixteen hundred Pennsylvania Avenue. So it's one of those things that anytime we can get some assistance, we certainly would appreciate it. And because the Supreme Court invalidated Section 4, you don't have preclearance. That means whatever action they take on districts, y'all can't stop it. They control the whole process, right? I mean, what can y'all can't stop it. They control the whole process, right? I mean, what can y'all do? Bingo. I mean, you hit the nail on the head. Without brief clearance, the only thing we can do is go to the courts. We have no relief as it relates to the Justice Department because of the

court decision. But at the same time, I think there needs to be some communication and some discussion between the members of Congress and the various southern states, because we do need relief and we do need assistance because controlling the House, the Senate and the governor's office, we have such a handicap. And now that we have all three branches of government at the federal level, now's the time to provide any kind of relief that can send our way. Now's the time to do it. Representative Calvin Smart of Georgia, we surely appreciate it. Thank you so very much. Thank you, Roland, for the fight you're engaging. Thank you very much.

Thank you very much. All right, folks. Today, Congressman Terry Sewell represents the Black Belt of Alabama. This is what she had to say about H.R. 1. Proud representative of Alabama's Civil Rights District, Birmingham, Montgomery, and Selma, it is my honor to be the lead sponsor of H.R. 4, the John Roberts Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, which, along with H.R. 1,

will restore democracy for the people. This Sunday, March 7th, we will commemorate Bloody Sunday. Our nation will reflect on the extraordinary sacrifices made by ordinary Americans in my hometown of Selma, Alabama. These foot soldiers were beaten. They shed a little blood on a bridge in Selma, daring to march for the right, the equal right to vote for all Americans. Never did I think that the cause for which our beloved colleague, Congressman John Lewis, and the foot soldiers, the cause for which they marched 56 years ago,

the Voting Rights Act, would again require congressional action to restore its full protections. This reminds us that progress is elusive and every generation must fight and fight again. As we see in the state legislatures across this country and even in a court case before the Supreme Court this week, the right to vote is under attack. We know that our democracy works best when everyone can participate fully. But we also know that voter suppression is alive and well. Old battles have become new again. The legacy of the foot soldiers like John Lewis requires that we pick up that baton, the baton of voter access, the baton of voter equality, and we continue

the next leg. Their cause is now our cause too. Progress is only made when we demand it, when we fight for it. John said, ours is not the struggle of one day, one week, or one year. Ours is a struggle for not just one judicial appointment or presidential term. Ours is a struggle for a lifetime, and each and every one of us must do our part. We in Congress, we leaders must lead, but every American must vote. We need to make sure that access to the ballot box is assured by everyone. As I close, I am reminded of John's last visit to the bridge. Every year we had an opportunity with John and Faith in Politics to go on a pilgrimage.

John, last year was the 55th anniversary, and many of us didn't think he was going to attend, but he did. He did. John fights for what he believes in, and he stands up in times of good trouble. I want to remind all of our colleagues of his last call to action on that day. Stricken with cancer, John said, never give up, never give in. We must keep our eyes on the prize.

We must pass H.R. 1 and H.R. 4 and truly restore democracy to America for the people. Robert, final round of comments on this here. Again, this is, as Representative Jones, this represents an existential threat. If Democrats in the Senate don't take this seriously, they are guaranteeing, they're guaranteeing they're going to lose in 2022. You're talking about the opportunity, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Wisconsin. They could pick up those three seats to expand that majority from 50 to 53. If they don't have the voter protection, they could lose anywhere from three to four seats. Well, let's understand something. the voter protection, they could lose anywhere from three to four seats.

Well, let's understand something. If the president wants the filibuster to go away, the filibuster will go away. If Chuck Schumer really wants the filibuster to go away, the filibuster will go away. There's a story of LBJ when they were passing the civil rights act of 64. They couldn't get a senator on the phone that they needed to sway his vote. So they said the LBJ went to the senator's office and sat behind the man's desk butt naked with a cowboy hat on and waited for the senator to get there and then said, I'll see you for a meeting. And guess what? They got the bill passed. So I'm not saying that we need to go through those extreme of measures, but you can go through. But if a senator such as Sinema or Joe Manchin doesn't want to vote to end the filibuster, or even Feinstein,

you can remove their committee assignments. You can bump them down the rankings. There are various legislative means that can be taken. But it starts with the president making a statement saying that he believes that it is worth it, that it is needed to end the filibuster and instructs the senators to do so. I think if they do that, then that is the way that you will get those senators to come on board and how we can finally pass some of these acts in the Senate. Monique, I think President Joe Biden is still operating that the Senate today is a Senate when he was there. No, it ain't. I don't think that.

Well, he sure as hell act like it. I mean, he's not obtuse. He's not dumb. He's not ignorant. He's not somebody who doesn't pay attention to news. He's not somebody who doesn't know people. He's not somebody who isn't an astute politician. But hold on. If that's all true, then, if that's all true, again, why did he say during the campaign that, oh, I think when Donald Trump is no longer there, the Republicans are going to return to the Republican Party that they were before.

They have it. He didn't say they will return to the Republican Party that they were before. He said that it would be easier to work with them. And I think that that will prove true. No, he actually said they will return to Republican Party before he was. That's what he said. Well, I mean, that's that's not even good either. But my point is, I tend to not, with our leaders who I know, like our vice president and president, are very, very smart and very experienced and very astute and have been in rooms I haven't been in and had to do votes I haven't had to do and had to pass bills I haven't had to pass, I tend to credit them as not being ignoramuses. That doesn't mean I agree with them, but I don't think that they're clueless or stupid or slow or any of those things. That's why I voted

for them, because if I thought they were clueless or stupid or slow, I wouldn't have. So what I think, though, is that some of the things that we deal with are going to take time, and we as American citizens who are voting constituents have to insist upon our voices being heard every step of the way. Not necessarily with, oh my God, I, you know, I'm watching Twitter, people saying, this is bullshit. This is blah, this is blah. And I'm like, that's instructive. But with what we said we were going to do, hold them to the fire and make our voices known, make our desires known so that there is no option but to go forward on the things that are essential. And this is one of those times. I don't disagree with Robert.

I'm sure I don't disagree with whatever Scott's about to say next. I just believe that our time is better spent pushing for action than pulling down people. Scott, not a single Republican in the House voted for the COVID relief bill. Not one. Go. Well, it just shows you how power-driven and how difficult Republicans want to make it for Democrats.

They're not interested in bipartisanship. They're interested in biding their time because they expect to win in 2020 with Trumpism. And if the Democrats don't figure out that bipartisanship means biding time, then they need to be reelected or they need new people serving on the Democratic Party side in the House and Senate. Now, with Joe Manchin, this is what we need to do with Joe. You call Joe over to the corner and say, what is it that you want? Somebody needs to find out what he wants, right?

And it doesn't cost too much because the future is now on H.R. 1 and H.R. 4. We don't get it now. We may never get it as you laid out. Give him what he wants. Give him what he wants. Give him political cover. And therefore, put him in bed for the rest of this term. Joe Manchin doesn't want political cover.

Joe Manchin has exactly what he wants. What does he want then? No, he has exactly what he wants. That is... Oh, just power? That is the power to say yay or nay. To be recalcitrant? That's the difference. That's the difference. That's the difference. That's the difference.

That's what he, that's what he, he got exactly what he wanted. He is in. He's got a new name, enabler of the Republican Party while the Democrats are in power. I got you. He needs to just say he's a Republican then. Well, keep in mind the governor of West Virginia won as a Democrat and then flipped to Republicans when Trump got in. Got to go to break. We come back. We'll talk with Tashara Jones, who last night came in first. St. Louis mayoral race. Now she moves on to the runoff.

She's next on Roland Martin Unfiltered. Donald Trump is not done dividing America. He's come out of hiding to find his old friend the spotlight. On Sunday, he took the stage at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Orlando, Florida, where he lobbed insults, spread conspiracies, and lied. The same things he's done for four years, with no concern for the destruction he leaves behind. He'll get the attention he craves. After all, even condemning him feeds his insatiable need to be seen. Which is why it's more important than ever to remind ourselves that in November,

one thing became clear. America is not Donald Trump. America is the people whose names you may never hear, whose only fame will be among those whose lives they touch, but who are the best of America all the same. They're doctors, nurses, healthcare workers, the people working tirelessly to get every American vaccinated against COVID-19. They're the disaster relief workers and first responders holding up their Texas neighbors during the harshest winter the state has ever seen. They're the people who show up, lend a hand, and give a damn when their fellow Americans are in need. Remember them.

The lives they lead are the best proof that Trump is a liar. Because America's greatness comes from us, not him. The Lincoln Project is responsible for the content of this advertising. Are you geolocating people through the FBI based on where they were on January 6th? He asked you about the geolocation and metadata aspects and gathering related to gathering of metadata that is related to your investigation of the January 6th riot. Tell me the tell me what you know about this. So it was the FBI accessing cell phone tower metadata from telecommunications companies. Shortly after 2 p.m., as the siege was fully underway,

Senator Lee describes it, the phone rang, it was Donald Trump. I hope you can understand my concern. Sure, you can appreciate my concern here. Hello, I'm Bishop T.D. James. Hi, how's it doing? It's your favorite funny girl, Amanda Seals. Hi, I'm Anthony Brown from Anthony Brown and Gloop Therapy. What up, Lana Well, and you are watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. All right, folks, last night in St. Louis,

voters went to the polls in the May oral election, and they picked two candidates. Well, first of all, it was a new vote as well because they could actually vote for up to four candidates last night. And then the two folks who came out on top, Tashara Jones, you might recall, of course, the city treasurer. We were there a couple weeks ago. She'll be facing Alderman Kara Spencer on April 6th. Tashara came in first with 57% of the vote. Spencer came in with 46%.

Joining us right now is Treasurer Jones. How you doing? Good. How are you, Roland? Doing great. You feel a little bit different this time than the last time when you lost in the general to the current mayor. Now, of course, there were three African-American candidates running for St. Louis mayor. You dispatched. They came in third and fourth. So it's you and Kara Spencer in the runoff. How do you feel? I feel great. I feel confident. You know, the voters definitely spoke yesterday. We won out of 28 boards. We won 18. Um, and then also we led by more than 5,000 votes or 10 points. So we, we feel really confident going into the runoff. For the folks who don't realize, uh, you've been on the constant, uh, duress and attack

from the St. Louis post dispatch. Uh, they have trashed you, uh, every turn they, They, of course, endorsed Spencer and another candidate in this election. And also the St. Louis Police Union cannot stand you as well. Do you believe that for black voters there in St. Louis and progressive white voters, those are two good folks to hate you because that fuels your folks to the polls? You know, I don't think that anybody's really paying attention to the Post-Dispatch. As far as their readership of the city of St. Louis, it's about 6,000 and a city of 300,000. So obviously their readership is declining. And for the police officers union, most of them live outside the city.

So their influence isn't that great. So how are you going to know you're running against the alderman? Oh, again, the Post-Dispatch talk about how smart she is and a great progressive. You got two progressives, frankly, running. What is the case you're going to make to the voters in St. Louis to pick you to be the mayor? Well, the case I'm going to make to the voters to pick me is that I am ready to lead on day one. You know, I don't have I don't sit here and talk about plans and haven't implemented anything. I've actually been implementing visions and platforms in the treasurer's office for the last eight years. I have totally transformed two departments in city government and created a

third. The voters deserve someone who's going to be ready to lead, who has relationships on the state and national level to put St. Louis back on the map. And so obviously you've got a month now. And how are y'all running? Are they actually having debates? Are they virtual? What's actually going to happen with both of you running? Yes. So the debates are going or forums are going to continue to be virtual. We are the invitations are already coming in from, you know, one of our local radio stations, legal women voters, some of the water organizations. So we will continue to have forums in a virtual environment and people will be able to choose who they want as mayor on April 6th. And last question for you, young voters propel Congresswoman Cori Bush to Congress. How is that also looking for you?

We are definitely popular amongst young voters. You know, we have one of the most diverse coalitions in the city, and that's what propelled us to victory last night. It's multi-generational, multi-ethnic, multi, just diverse in all ways, shapes and forms, because we actually do the outreach to communities that feel left behind. We translated our campaign materials into Bosnian, Spanish and Mandarin, which are communities that are growing in St. Louis, to let people know that we see them and that we appreciate their seat at the table. All right, then, Deshaun Jones, well, certainly a congratulations. Good luck on April 6th, and we'll be monitoring this race,

and hopefully on April 7th we can be wishing you congratulations as a new mayor of St. Louis. Thank you, Roland, and thank you for all of your support. I appreciate it. All right, thanks a lot. I appreciate it. All right, folks, let's go back to Capitol Hill. Today, the head of the D.C. National Guard compelling testimony. It explains exactly what happened on January 6th and who chose not to give him the right orders to muster the National Guard.

But listen to what he says, what they said to him when Black Lives matter protested in dc watch this i appreciate the opportunity to appear before you today to discuss the events of january 6 a dark chapter in our nation's history i was personally sickened by the violence and destruction i witnessed that fateful day and the physical and mental harm that came to u.s capitol police officers and metropolitan police department officers some of whom i met with later that evening and i could see the injuries that that came to U.S. Capitol Police officers and Metropolitan Police Department officers, some of whom I met with later that evening, and I could see the injuries that they sustained. It is my hope that my recollection of the events and my presentation of the facts, as I know them, will help your committees in its investigation and prevent such tragic events from ever occurring again. First, I think it's critical to understand

what the District of Columbia National Guard mission was on January 6th to include the civilian agency we were supporting and our request for support of other civilian authorities were handled. On December 31st, 2020, the District of Columbia National Guard received written requests from the District of Columbia Mayor,

Muriel Bowser, and her Director of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, Dr. Christopher Rodriguez. The requests sought National Guard support for traffic control and crowd management for planned demonstrations in the District from January 5th through January 6th, 2021. After conducting mission analysis to support the district's request, I sent a letter to the Secretary of the Army, Ryan McCarthy, on January 1st requesting his approval. I received that approval in a letter dated January 5th granting support to the Metropolitan Police Department with 320 guardsmen personnel to include a 40 personnel quick reaction force.

The District of Columbia National Guard provides support to the Metropolitan Police Department, the United States Park Police, the United States Secret Service, and other federal and district law enforcement agencies in response to planned rallies, marches, protests, and other large-scale First Amendment activity on a routine basis. A standard component of such support is the stand-up of an off-site quick reaction force, an element of guardsmen held in reserve with civil disturbance response equipment, helmets, shields, batons, etc. They are postured to quickly respond to an urgent and immediate need for assistance by civil authorities. The Secretary of the Army's January 5th letter to me withheld that authority for me to employ a quick reaction force.

Additionally, the Secretary of the Army's memorandum to me required that a concept of operation be submitted to him before the employment of a quick reaction force. I found that requirement to be unusual as was the requirement to seek approval to move guardsmen supporting the Metropolitan Police Department to move from one traffic control point to another. At 1 30 p.m on January 6 we watched as the Metropolitan Police Department began to employ officers to support the Capitol Police. In doing so the officers began to withdraw In the early days of the pandemic, we watched as the metropolitan police department began to employ officers to support the capitol police. In doing so, the officers began

to withdraw from the traffic control points that were jointly manned with district of Columbia guardsmen. At 1.49 p.m., I received a frantic call from then chief of the United States capitol police, Steven sun, where he informed me that the security perimeter of the United States Capitol

had been breached by hostile rioters. Chief Sun, his voice cracking with emotion, indicated that there was a dire emergency at the Capitol, and he requested the immediate assistance of as many available National Guardsmen that I could muster. Immediately after that 1-49 call, I alerted the U.S. Army Senior Leadership of the request. The approval for Chief Son's request would eventually come from the acting Secretary of Defense and be relayed to me by Army Senior Leaders at 5.08 p.m., about three hours and 19 minutes later. I had already had guardsmen on

buses at the armory ready to move to the Capitol. Consequently, at 5.20 p.m., less than 20 minutes, the District of Columbia National Guard arrived at the Capitol and were being sworn in by the United States Capitol Police. We helped to establish the security perimeter at the east side of the Capitol to facilitate the resumption of the joint session of Congress. In conclusion, I am grateful for the guardsmen from the 53 states and territories who supported the District of Columbia National Guard Operation Capitol Response and helped to ensure a peaceful transition of power on January 20th. In particular, I am grateful for

the timely assistance from our close neighbors from Virginia, Delaware, and Maryland National Guard who augmented DC National Guard forces in establishing the security perimeter. I am honored to lead these citizens, soldiers, and airmen. These are your constituents, many of whom left behind their families, careers, their education, their businesses, to help ensure the protection and safety of the United States Capitol and those who serve in it every day. General Walker, I want to start my questioning by going back in time a little bit prior to the events on January 6th. So my question is, in June of 2020, as violence was escalating during the summer protest, were you able to immediately receive approval from the Secretary of the Army and the Secretary of Defense to deploy National Guard to assist law enforcement at that time?

Senator Peters, I was. Yes, sir. The Secretary of the army was with me for most of that week. He came to the armory. I was in constant communication with him when we were not together. So you were immediately able to receive approval in June of 20.

From your testimony, I want to be clear, were you able to immediately receive approval from the secretary of the army and the secretary of defense to deploy the national guard on January 1th? No, sir.

In your opening remarks, you said that a January 5th memo was unusual. Could you explain to the committee why it was unusual and what was the impact of the memo that you received on January 5th? So the memo was unusual in that I was, it required me to seek authorization from the secretary of the army and the

secretary of defense to essentially even protect my guardsmen so no no civil just civil disturbance equipment could be authorized unless it was came from the Secretary of Defense now the Secretary of the Army to his credit did tell me that I could have force protection equipment guards, vests. We did have that with us. But that came from the secretary of the army. The secretary of defense told me I needed his permission to escalate to have that kind of protection.

That kind of protection even though you would be engaged in force protection, to protect your men and women, you would have to have that kind of protection. That kind of protection, even though you would be engaged in force protection, to protect your men and women, before you could do that, you would have to get approval from the Secretary of Defense? The memo from the Secretary of Defense made clear that I needed his permission to have. So what it says, without my personal authorization, the District of Columbia National Guard is not authorized the following, to be issued weapons, ammunition, bayonets,

batons, or ballistic protection equipment such as helmets and body armor. Now, again, to be clear, the Secretary of the Army told me to go ahead and issue that equipment. So we never were going to have weapons or ammunition, and we no longer have bayonets. But we do have ballistic protection equipment, helmets, body armor. And so I did have that with each Guardsman. Thank you, General. General Walker, if the restrictions on your authorities hadn't been put in place by DOD, what would you have done when chief sun called you at 1 49 on January 6

with an urgent request for national guard assistance? I would have immediately pulled all the guardsmen that were supporting the metropolitan police department. They had the gear in the vehicles.

I would have had them assemble in the armory and then get on buses and go straight to the Capitol anticipating that we were going to be called. So he would have been there, and he met with Deputy Chief Carroll of the Metropolitan Police Department who asked him, where is the National Guard? How come they're not here? And this colonel said, well, I'm sure they're coming, and I'm here to scout out where they're going to be when they get here. So that was the plan. I would have sent them there immediately as soon as I hung up my next call would have been to my subordinate commanders get every single guardsman in this building and everybody that's helping the Metropolitan Police we mission them to the Capitol without delay. This, y'all, was an absolute inside job.

There's no way around this, Bonita. None. No, none at all. I'm left speechless. I hope that Americans are hearing this testimony. I believe that from the very beginning, from the day that I was here on the show, that all of it took place, which was January 6th. But it's just plain now. I mean, there's no arguing that. And they need to dig and dig until every single person responsible is held accountable. It was interesting, Scott, to listen to Republicans ask questions of the commander, knowing damn well that if a Democrat in the White House had done that, they would be raised in holy hell and losing their minds.

You don't trust the troops. You don't value cops. A cop died. One had lost three fingers. One lost his eye. And these folks act like there was a picnic on the lawn January 6th. Oh, very reserved, of course. But if those are a thousand Black Lives Matter, people who had gotten shot and laid out in front of the Capitol, which they would have been had they been Black folk. You would have said it was necessary, those same Republicans, it's necessary to protect democracy and our liberty and our freedom of the Capitol. But let me tell you something for your viewers, because I've done a lot of internal investigation, okay? You don't just look at documents. You don't just interview the lead people. You go up and down

that line, Roland, until you get to the link, the witness that is going to link the communication, because it won't be in writing, the stand down communication. somebody willing to come forward and tell the truth that the Department of Defense and Homeland Security were told to delay, stand down, and that regardless of violence, that they were certainly not to be there in order to prevent, quote, bloodshed. And that is an order that came directly from the White House. And if you investigated long enough, if you set up the commission, you hire outside counsel, and you're really thorough because you want to know the truth, that's what the ultimate report will say. It won't be conspiracy theorists. It'll be factually based. And then that needs to be

published, right? And then the bad actors need to be prosecuted. Because you're just scratching the surface based on the testimony, the public testimony. They need to go behind closed doors with hundreds of witnesses until you get to the link that we have not heard. The actual witness that says, I was in the room when the order to stand down from the White House came in. It's coming. Just sit tight. Robert, to sit there and watch co-conspirators ask questions is pretty funny and pretty ballsy. Well, absolutely. And I think any banana republic on earth, and I don't like that antiquated phrase,

would understand that certain people need to recuse themselves from these hearings. The people who need to recuse themselves are the people who are the co-conspirators in the crime which took place. And frankly, these are the people who are going to be facing not just expulsion from the Senate, but maybe criminal charges. People like Hawley and Cruz, we heard these statements from Congress, people saying that there was a Congresswoman who was tweeting out the location of the Speaker of the House during the insurrection. The individuals, which is very easy to find, the individuals who were giving guided tours throughout the Capitol

at a time where guided tours were banned at the Capitol, and those people later on coming forward. We've seen the QAnon shaman say that he is willing to come forward and testify as to their connection. Alex Jones has said he wants to go before a Senate committee on these issues. So the truth is going to come out. But you're right, there's a special level of gumption that's required for Hawley and some of these others to sit there and try to question what happened, the witnesses. And you know, there's a quote from Voltaire that I like, where he says, if you can convince a man of absurdities, you can force him into atrocities. And that is what we're seeing with these Republicans and these MAGAs now. They've been so corrupted, so bought into this idea of

voter fraud and losing their country. And this goes far back before Trump. David Duke was talking about this in the 80s. The singularity is coming in the 2040, that we'll be a majority minority nation, that they are so willing to believe those absurdities that they were willing to commit the very atrocities that they thought they were going to prevent going forward. We saw the golden statue at CPAC. These people are on a completely different wavelength. And to think that we're going to go back to negotiating with them like it's Tip O'Neill and Ted Kennedy or something along those lines is not realistic. We have to fight the fight that's in front of us.

And right now we have to fight with every weapon we have. Look, these people... One other thing, if I may. That witness list has got to include those House of Representatives and those senators mentioned by my colleague. They've got to put them under oath. The question is, do the Democrat they hold on the leadership have the guts and the fortitude to put them under oath as well? They should.

Well, look, these fools haven't stopped. They're not going to stop now. Now we have where you have folks saying that they have actionable intelligence, that the same white domestic terrorists plan to do harm on March 4th, tomorrow, which is like this. In this QAnon conspiracy, Monique, they believe that tomorrow Trump rides the white horse back into the White House. Yes, they do. They do. It's insane. I watched one of the women who was at CPAT, not inside the doors, but outside, explaining how just from 1776 to now, he's about to assume his rightful place.

And it is lun proof that not just that there's this remnant out there that can be molded or that has this belief system, but that as news organizations very different than yours, Roland, who just carry the story over and over again with zero responsibility, with zero ethics and the way that they do it, because it gets clicks and it gets views, it has led our country into a sewer. And we have people who really are in the desert putting sand in their mouth and calling it water. And that's why leadership matters so much. Leaders lead. They lead by example.

They understand the responsibility. There are rules. There are rules, there are boundaries, as President Obama, President Biden will say. We don't have to agree on positions, but we got to agree on the same set of facts. And that's not where we are. As Robert just said, no, no, no, it's very binary right now. You know, I mean, they're in an entire different world. They have created one for themselves with an alternate type of system and facts. And anytime they start losing people, they create, so see, it was supposed to happen on

inauguration day. And since that didn't happen, they were losing people. They came up with March 4th. And there's no reason to think that all of these people spurned on by current members of Congress, prior members of the administration in order to do their bidding. I mean, look, if you want to see the kind of idiots that we're dealing with, this is the kind of idiot in Missouri. And I'm doing this for a reason because this impacts the next story that we're doing. These are the kind of idiots who are appealing to these deranged white domestic terrorists. Listen to Josh Hawley. Speaking of being canceled, the last six weeks, the radical left, their corporate allies, the liberal media have tried to cancel me,

censor me, expel me, shut me down, stop me from representing the people of Missouri, stop me from representing you. And guess what? I'm here today. I'm not going anywhere and I'm not backing down. Not a chance. Not a chance. And neither are you, am I right? You're not going to back down. You're not going anywhere. I just want to say to those people who, speaking of being canceled, the last six weeks. This is the person who called for a civil rights pro, a St. Louis prosecutor, Kim Gardner, last year. This is over those idiots McCloskeys who pulled the guns out when they had the protest there in St. Louis. Now, just to understand again the crazy level that's happening there in Missouri,

listen to this. Okay. The case of Lamar Johnson. Black man who Kim Gardner says she believes was wrongfully convicted for murder over 25 years ago. Tuesday, the Missouri Supreme Court refused to grant Johnson a new trial stating that Kim Gardner, who is the city DA, lacked the authority to appeal a case decades after it was adjudicated. Johnson was convicted in 1994 for allegedly killing a man over a suspected drugs dispute. He says he's innocent.

Gardner's office has not announced whether they will appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. The thing about this case is that the Hollies of the world don't care that Gartner's office has concluded that the man is innocent. These Republicans in Missouri, Scott, are perfectly content with this black man sitting in jail to have a prosecutor come forward and say, we have investigated and we, this man is innocent. They're saying don't matter.

You don't have the authority. We don't care. Stay the hell in jail. That's the state that Josh Hawley comes from. And who is Josh Hawley? The former attorney general. And that's the state Supreme Court that he comes from and where Kim is

and where that defendant is incarcerated. You need... You know you need two to tangle. You need a prosecutor to bring the case and prosecute, and then the judge will sentence, and then the defense obviously gives the defendant their best defense. Here, this is so highly unusual. Most jurisdictions have a catch-all statute, my colleagues know, that says any of this, any time, no matter how many years, can be brought back in the interest of justice. And when it's in the interest of justice, most courts will give you a hearing, especially federal or state prosecutor says, we made a mistake.

We made a mistake. We think he's innocent and we think he needs a new trial or that he ought to be released from prison. That is extraordinary decision by a prosecutor, no matter the state, federal or local, an extraordinary decision. And for the Supreme Court, and again, I'm no expert on Missouri law, says that she doesn't have the authority to do that, well then who the hell has the authority to do it? In most jurisdictions, nobody else has the authority. If the government says they made a mistake, if the government opposes the release, then the justices have a decision to make. But saying that the prosecutor has no authority, well then where does this young man go for justice

then? They're running out of institutions that can grant him justice when a mistake, a grave mistake has been made. And so her only choice is to go to the Supreme Court. I suggest or recommend or think that she probably will, but there's got to be something or some quirk in the law that the state Supreme Court is hanging their hat on. It'd be interesting to see whether they're elected at the state Supreme Court is hanging their hat on. It'd be interesting to see whether they're elected at the state Supreme Court or appointed and whether they're Republicans or not. Because that'll tell you a lot about their policies

and their politics. But more importantly, there's got to go, there's got to be somewhere where this defendant or this person incarcerated can go for justice when the government says you're innocent or believes that you deserve a new trial. That makes no sense to have nowhere to go for justice when the government says you're innocent or believes that you deserve a new trial. That makes no sense to have nowhere to go for justice. Here's what's interesting, Robert. The Missouri Supreme Court said,

the case is not about whether Johnson is innocent or whether there exists a remedy for someone who is innocent and did not receive a constitutionally fair trial. This case presents only the issue of whether there is any authority to appeal the dismissal of a motion for a new trial filed decades after a criminal conviction became final. No such authority exists. Therefore, this court dismisses the appeal. Now, the Republican Attorney General, Eric Schmidt, he argued that Kim Gartner lacked authority to seek a new trial after the case was adjudicated. Now, here's the deal. Okay. Schmidt's spokesman, I'm reading Associated Press story, said the ruling makes it clear. Go to my iPad at the law does not allow the circuit attorney's office to file a motion for a new trial.

Almost 25 years too late. First of all, she wasn't in office 25 years ago. The circuit court brought our office in not to comment on innocence or guilt, but to ensure that the rule of law is upheld and the proper procedure is followed, and that's exactly what we did. Well, shit, Monique.

You're the Attorney General of the damn state, and you're saying, sorry, Kim Gardner, you don't have the authority. Well, damn it, find out who does. Yeah. That's not their desire. Well, damn it, find out who does. Yeah. That's not their desire.

Well, it's, and again, it's not about their desire, Roland. We have the power. So I have to agree with what Scott said because I think

maybe he wasn't willing or maybe he just didn't feel like it tonight, but I will buck all of it and say plainly, they're right on the law. They're following the law. She is 25 years too late, not her, but the office is 25 years too late according to the law as it exists now in the state. That doesn't mean that there's not a remedy in equity. He's got to have somewhere to go for justice, Monique. I'm not saying there's not somewhere to go. I'm saying where they went is not it, Scott. And we know that because we are looking plainly at what the law says.

So where do you go? Okay, so here's the deal. Where do you go? You've got to change the law, right? Don't you have to change the law? And don't you, while you're trying to change the law, bring all these brilliant minds, you know, like Scott and Robert and Ben and me and whoever, don't you bring them to bear and maybe look 20 years back and try to figure out, here's my first idea that I'm just gonna throw out.

Look and see if there was insufficiency of counsel because if there was insufficiency of counsel when it was supposed to be filed, maybe we can peel back time that way. And so maybe it's not in this DA's office, but this DA's office, this circuit county attorney, has brought it to light. And now we've got to scavenge our way. But see, we can't expect them to do what they're not supposed to do. What we have to do when there is an unjust law is change it.

Okay, but hold up, hold up. Okay, but here's the deal though. First of all, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. So here's the deal. Robert, this is the AP story. Gardner said there was misconduct by one of her office's former prosecutors, that secret payments were made to the witness, that police reports were falsified and testimony perjured. Well, damn. You're absolutely right. So he got to sit in jail? Wait, wait, wait.

Robert, go ahead. Well, to Monique's point, let us understand that if the law says what the law says, then change the damn law. That seems like that's something that could get done quick, fast, and in a hurry. Now, we're talking the Republican Missouri legislature. Right, right.

I understand, but look, I started watching a new show a couple weeks ago called WandaVision. And so on the show, the white woman loses everything. And then she goes crazy. She creates her own world and her own universe where she's in control. She has all the power. And it's the 1950s and there's not a lot

of minorities around. So we can call this mega vision because these people have a mega vision of what's going on, where they are in control of everything, where they don't have to worry about minority rights, where they don't have to worry about the needs of the people as long as they are financing their corporate interests. So what has to happen, I don't care how long it takes, is if you don't have the legislators in place that are needed, then you have to put in the consecrated effort to overcome voter suppression, overcome gerrymandering, flip the state legislatures. Eventually-

Robert, you can't flip Republicans. No! You gotta let me say this. Listen to what I'm saying. It's not about flipping Republicans. It's about replacing Republicans. If you look at Georgia, the demographics changed, and that's why Georgia

became a blue state. The demographics in Missouri are similar. It takes the money, the ground organizing, all the stuff that Roland was just doing for the January 5th runoff. Oh, St. Louis and in the metro areas there and start taking seats back and you flip the state.

And that's where you push things through. Elections have consequences. Okay. This is the law sets and they are. I got another path for my colleague. have consequences. This is what the law says, and they are really in line with the law being changed I got another pathway for my colleague. Let me give you another pathway,

and tell me if you agree with it, guys. All righty. So they get rebuffed by the state Supreme Court. There is no time limitation on obtaining a writ of habeas corpus.

That is, they filed with the federal court to produce the body, if you will, A federal judge in Missouri who has a lifetime appointment orders the body be produced, the incarcerated be produced. He or she holds a hearing, and the government agrees with the defense that he was wrongfully incarcerated, and you get a federal judge to issue an order for a new trial or in the alternative for his release.

That's how you get him. Okay, and Scott. And there's no time limitation on that. Scott, okay, so you cooking with grease now, right? You cooking with grease. You can fry some fish. We can have some crawfish. We can do a lot of things with that hot grease

that you're cooking with now. So the amount of time that was spent, you know, kicking against the prick with the law that we know is not on the side of the poor Circuit County attorney. She did the best she

could. But I mean, and I'm not calling out the defense attorneys, whoever this man's defense attorneys are. God bless you, I know you probably are working for free. No, no, no, no, hold up. First of all, hold up, hold up, just facts, just facts. His defense attorney is long gone. The Missouri Innocence

Project has been working with Kim Gartner's office on this the moment she got elected. That's how it even got this far. But, Roland, I'm just giving facts. Okay, but, but, Roland, the theory... I'm just giving facts. Okay, and the theory of the case is wrong. And every branch of the Innocence Project isn't the same.

And, and the dude who, who was, who just finished talking, they would want to listen to him because he might know some ways around it. That's all... Okay, fine. So why don't the two of y'all then write this up in the email. I'm talking. Why don't the two of y'all write that up

and then I'll send it to Kim Gardner. I'm good with it. And Kim Gardner will probably tell you why you can or cannot do that. Well, here, why don't we just ask her? So let's see here. Okay, call her up. Got a number? Who you think you talking to?

He gonna call her. Who the hell you think you talking to? He gonna call her. Who the hell you think you talking to, Scott? You know he gonna call her. He gonna call her. Let's get somewhere. I'm excited about this.

Hey, Kim. How you doing? Hey, I'm on the air right now. And we're talking about this. I'm literally on the air. We're talking about the Lamar Johnson case. And so Scott Bolden has a legal idea to try to move this thing forward. Do you want to hear what he has to say?

Okay. All right. I'm going to have a control room call you. We he has to say? Okay. All right, all right. I'm going to have a control room call you. We're going to pull you up. All right, control room, get ready to call because we're talking about this case. We're trying to figure out, okay, how can we, you know, what action can take,

what's next to get this brother free. So they're going to call you back in 10 seconds, okay? Okay. Okay, all right, bye-bye. Hold on. I told you he was going to do it. Hold on. He's a mess.

Let's go, let's go, let's go. See, this is why. Chelsea, that's the phone number. Y'all call Kim on FaceTime, audio or FaceTime video. Y'all give a call right now. See, this is also why y'all. While y'all doing that. That's why we ain't on network TV.

While y'all doing that. Network TV, you can't on network TV. You can't just do this. This is why you gotta support a black show. This is why you gotta support a black show. We got three lawyers and a journal. See, this right here, keep me on the free. This is why y'all support a black show because you ain't gonna get this on MSNBC, CNN. The host

ain't gonna call somebody on the air. This show we doing is the actual show that I pitched to CNN back in 2007, which I called a scripted, unscripted show, where you just take it wherever you want to take it, and that's what we're doing right here. That's why y'all got to support us when I bring the Funk Fan Club. So y'all should support us at Cash App, Dollar Sign, pull the graphic up, Dollar Sign, Cash App, Dollar Sign,

RM Unfiltered. PayPal.me forward slash RMartin unfiltered. Venmo.com forward slash RM unfiltered. My Zelle is at Roland at RolandSMartin.com or Roland at RolandMartinUnfiltered.com. So this is how we do it. Pull Kim on audio. I don't need Kim on video. Pull her on audio.

All right, Kim. Okay, so Scott, Kim Gardner is on the phone. So Scott, Kim, we've already told everybody Lamar Johnson case, the Missouri Supreme court denying it. Uh, the attorney general saying you didn't have standing. It was too late. Uh, we were talking about with these three lawyers, what's next. Scott says this should happen next. Scott go. Hey, Kim, Scott Bolden, the alternative I thought, and there as to whether, is there any reason why the defendant and the Innocence Project haven't brought a writ of habeas corpus to the federal court for them to produce the body before a federal judge have a hearing and hopefully get the federal judge to order either his release or that he get a new trial with your office in support of the defense request for that writ. Kim? Yeah, I believe that's an avenue. And that's where I think that

we have to find a way because in this case, as you know, this is not about everybody thinks this is about just the rights of, and what it is about a wrongfully convicted man, but it's about the rights of a prosecutor to correct and do their job, the constitutional duty to correct a wrongful conviction and to be true ministers of justice. We take an oath, not just to the laws of the state of Missouri, but actually the constitution. And so you're basically saying that a prosecutor who finds wrongdoing has no mechanism and the procedure bar is just so great that basically we can't do our job? And this is serious.

This is whether a prosecutor can actually be the minister of justice that they claim that we should be. How can that be? So, Kim, hold on. So, Kim, you chose—hold on, Scott. Hold on, Scott. Hold this ruling? Yeah. So, Kim, hold on. So, Kim, you chose. Hold on, Scott. Hold on, Scott. Hold on. Scott, hold on.

Scott, hold on. Hold on. So, Kim, you chose to go this process to see if you could actually pursue this. You took it to the state Supreme Court. Now that they've said, no, you don't have the authority, now figure out another route. Yes, we will figure out another route. Yes, we will figure out another route. And that's my goal is because I think that we have to as prosecutors is fundamental to our job, our duty into the whole integrity of the criminal justice system to find a mechanism to

correct the wrong. And we should not be impeded by just the procedural barriers that we are, the Supreme Court of Missouri looked at. And that's, to me, it's devastating because justice should not end when we secure a conviction. Justice should also be obtained and followed through by a prosecutor even after a conviction is attained.

And that's our duty. So when we talk about the constitutional oath, where is that at in the Lamar Johnson case? And so it's, like I said, people think it's just about Lamar. It's about a prosecutor's right, a duty that we all know we control a lot in the criminal justice system. And we have to we're the minister of justice. And so you're basically saying a prosecutor has no duty to correct wrongful convictions. And I disagree with the Supreme Court.

Scott, go ahead. Then we'll meet you in Robert. Scott, go ahead. Which would, in fact, leave him in legal purgatory in an unjust system whereby you, as the prosecutor, knows that he was wrongfully convicted. And so I agree the short-term effect would be for you to ask for a hearing and it went to the state Supreme Court and see if you could just get justice that way. In the alternative, though, seeking a federal court order on the writ of habeas corpus with you supporting the defense motion and supporting the defense in that federal hearing vis-a-vis produce the body, which seemed to be the second most efficient way to do it. And if you could get the federal

court to do justice, I don't know what the attorney general, the state attorney general would do, or any other political forces there, but that defendant certainly has a right to do it. And with your support, you could possibly get them to produce the body, order a new trial, or release him. And Scott, I just wanted to just articulate this point. You know, when you talk about the attorney general, this is the attorney general that sued China. This is the attorney general that actually was a part of trying to prevent the election certification of Biden and Kamala, vice president-elect, now the vice president of the United States, the first African-American female. So this is an attorney general that does not understand the rule of law,

does not uphold the Constitution, and supports, I believe, insurrection behavior, which we know in Missouri we have Senator Hawley and others that do not support the Constitution or the rule of law. So what we're talking about is equal justice under the laws for everyone. And in this case, we should be able to correct wrongful convictions. And that's our job, our duty. And we talk about upholding the law and protecting everyone inside the courtroom. And a prosecutor is different. We're not an advocate for an individual. We're for the whole integrity of the system. And so a fight, because it's not just about Lamar. It's about every one that we may have in Missouri that is wrongfully convicted. We have overwhelming evidence of innocence. And so a prosecutor is supposed to say, oh, my bad. Something happened and it's wrong. And we just sit there and wait until somebody gives us the right.

And there's no procedure. So in Missouri, there's no actual limitations. It's unclear about whether the prosecutor can bring a motion for new trial. They're saying I'm subject to the same limitations as the defendant. Come on. Monique, that makes no sense. Just thank you so much, Kim, just for the courage and boldness to be willing to step forward and take this kind of heat when you see that something has been done that is unjust. What we were talking about before you got on my point of view on it is if a prosecutor doesn't have the latitude that they need because the law is constricting and constraining, then the law needs to be changed. And so there has to be work on all sides. And I don't think that we have to

wait and only do one thing. We can do both things at the same time, or can we not? Well, we have to understand where we are. And we are in a time in Missouri, unfortunately, that is controlled by the conservative Republicans that want to have this rule of law, law and order. But when it comes to unfairness and injustice, they seem to be silenced on cases like Lamar Johnson. We have a governor right now can look at commuting sentences, but, you know, he's failed to do that. And he started with some low level. I'm not I'm not knocking the individuals that are are seeking commutation or the mechanism. But the cases that the governor is reviewing, I have some concern, but I have concerns on this governor. This is the same governor that basically called for my investigation with Senator Hawley in terms of a case that we all know that is, I'm dealing with right now, the couple,

the gun-toting couple that decided to weigh their guns at individuals that decided to exercise their right to protest. And it's, who do you believe the rule of law should be applied to and in what way? And so this governor is on board with picking sides when he has no idea about how a prosecutor has to evaluate and investigate individual criminal activity in their jurisdiction. And we have that discretion. But because I'm the first African-American circuit attorney, which that's what they call me in my jurisdiction, I'm challenged like no other. And I'm always questioned doing my job by every level of government, even the former president. So it needs to stop playing that if you want to do justice in this,

in Lamar Johnson's case, do we have the will to do the right thing in Missouri right now? We said, no, we want to have these procedural barriers that impede justice. And I say, I don't believe that. I don't believe our constitution supports that. I don't believe justice supports that. And I can't sit by and say, and let that stand. Robert Petillo. Well, we want, we definitely want to be able to support you in that. Thank you for that. And I can't sit by and let that stand. Robert Petillo. Well, we want, we definitely want to be able to support you in that. Thank you for that. Thank you, Robert. Yeah. This is like one of those group projects at school where I'm just going to say, just let me

know what you need me to do. Uh, I'll talk Reverend into it or something. Uh, we got to get this done, but, uh, a black women of Ainsen and wonderful, uh, between, uh, uh, Ms. Gardner, Letitia James, Fannie Willis, they really are leading the way on criminal justice reform in this country. And I can't tell you how much I appreciate that. And I find it ironic the same people who are supporting the McCloskeys waving guns at people are the same people who are supporting the arrest of Grandmaster Jay of the NFAC for pointing a gun at people. So I think it's important to have prosecutors like yourself leading the charge on restorative justice and just let me know what you need me to do. I'm ready to help out. I appreciate

that. Thank you. Kim Gardner, we appreciate you taking the call. And folks, everybody, my one-on-one with Kim this Friday, we're going to run my one-on-one with County Attorney Wesley Bell there in St. Louis. Next Friday will be my one-on-one with Kim. This Friday we're going to run my one-on-one with County Attorney Wesley Bell there in St. Louis. Next Friday

will be my one-hour conversation with Kim Gardner. Kim, thanks a lot. Thank you, Roland. Appreciate the opportunity. All right. Thank you very much. Folks, got to go to a break. We come back more on Roland Martin Unfiltered. See y'all, ain't no other show like this. Ain't no other show this real, this black. Nobody.

Y'all going to pick anybody black on any of them other networks, line them all up. I'll give you some money after this show. Line them all up, put them together. You know, you act like you got some sense sometimes. First of all, don't ever try to challenge me, Scott. You're the only lawyer that ain't on here. And you're talking the most shit than all three of us.

Scott was right. It was right. Why are you saying don't ever try to challenge you? Scott was right. No, no. Scott tried to challenge me. What you going to do, call her? Oh, well, that's good.

Because then we found out. I knew you were going to call her. I ain't the one to challenge. See, when we growing up, growing up, when we had truth or dare, when we had truth or dare, when we had truth or dare, I ain't never do truth. Good call, brother. Good call.

Dare me. H-U, Scott. H-U. You know? No, T-A-M-U. Texas A&M. Yeah, thank you very much. I'll be back. Rolling Martin Unfiltered. If people begin to believe that their democracy is fraudulent, if they conclude that voting is a charade, the system is rigged,

then God knows what could happen. They rigged an election. They rigged it like they've never rigged an election before. Actually, we do know what could happen. It's happening right now. The U.S. Capitol overrun under siege. Pro-Trump extremists storming inside, flooding the halls, breaching the floor

of the House of Representatives and the Senate. Millions of Americans sincerely believe the last election was fake. It was a landslide election and everyone knows it. We will not go quietly into the night. When thousands of your countrymen storm the Capitol building, if you don't bother to pause

and learn a single thing from it, then you're a fool. I know your pain. I know you're hurt. We had an election that was stolen from us. We got to this sad, chaotic day for a reason. It is not your fault. It is their fault. I believe that it's movement time again. In America today, the economy is not working for working people. The poor and the needy are being abused.

You are the victims of power, and this is the abuse of economic power. I'm 23 years old. I work three jobs. Seven days a week. No days off. They're paying people pennies on the dollar compared to what they profit. And it is time for this to end. Essential workers have been showing up to work, feeding us, caring for us, delivering goods to us throughout this entire pandemic.

And they've been doing it on a measly $7.25 minimum wage. The highest check I ever got was literally $291. I can't take it no more. You know, the fight for 15 is a lot more than about $15 an hour. This is about a fight for your dignity. We have got to recognize that working people deserve livable wages. And it's long past time for this nation to go to 15 so that moms and dads don't have to choose between asthma inhalers and rent.

I'm halfway homeless. The main reason that people end up in their cars is because income does not match housing costs. If I could just only work one job, I can have more time with them. It is time for the owners of Walmart, McDonald's, Dollar General, and other large corporations to get off welfare and pay their workers a living wage. And if you really want to tackle racial equity, you have to raise the minimum wage. We're not just fighting for our families, we're fighting for yours too. We need this. I'm going to fight for it till we get it. I'm not going to give up. We just need all workers to stand up as one nation and just fight together.

Families are relying on these salaries and they must be paid at a minimum $15 an hour. $15 a minimum anyone should be making just to be able to stay out of poverty. I can't take it no more. I'm doing this for not only me but for everybody. We need $ 15 right now. Hi, I'm Eric Nolan. I'm Shantae Moore. Hi, my name is Latoya Luckett and you're watching and Martin unfiltered. After Republicans and Joe Manchin blocked Neera Tanden to head the OMB office for President Joe Biden, they plan on putting up Shalonda Young.

She was going to be the deputy director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, but now they are pushing her for the top job, including statements were sent out today from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, and Congressman Jim Clyburn. Now, again, Tandon lost the support of a number of folks as she withdrew her nomination for 14 years. Young has worked on the staff of the U.S. House Committee on Appropriations, the last four, as its staff director.

She was the first black woman to hold that position and will certainly let you know what happens next. Now, Republicans are also throwing darts and trying to stop a couple of folks to join the Department of Justice, Christian Clark and Vanita Gupta. We've had both of them on the show. Vanita Gupta, formerly led Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, and of course, Christian Clark led the Lawrence Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. Now, a group of anti-Trump conservatives, they're launching a $1 million ad campaign in support of Gupta, her nomination, in an effort to counter attacks from hard right Republicans who are painting her as a radical liberal. Yesterday, the NAACP Legal Defense Fund also came out in support.

Sherilyn Ifill dropped this particular video here. To give my unreserved support on behalf of the board and staff of the LDF for the confirmation of Vinita Gupta to serve as Associate Attorney General in the Department of Justice. I have known Ms. Gupta for 17 years. She's been a trusted colleague, a leader, a visionary, and a partner in the fight for civil rights and racial justice. Excuse me. Vinita began her career at the organization I now lead. She was an assistant counsel at LDF from 2001 to 2006,

and she quickly proved herself to be an extraordinary lawyer, a visionary, and a fierce fighter for those whose lives were most affected by injustice in the criminal justice system. Since then she has continued a storied career as a leader at the ACLU, at the Department of Justice leading the Civil Rights Division at one of the most contentious modern periods in the department's history, and then as the CEO of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights where she brilliantly led a coalition of over 200 civil and human rights organizations. And of course, they're also going after criticizing Vanita Gupta and Kristen Clark, trying to call paying her as an anti-Semite total BS. Robert, what you're seeing here is Republicans doing what they always do. Keep in mind, when President Obama was there, Republicans blocked his appointee for the office of the civil rights division of his Department of Justice.

And here's the deal. No black woman, no woman has ever been for the head of the civil rights division has ever been actually Senate confirmed, which is what Kristen Clark is trying to do. Of course, Gupta served in that position. She was acting, but never has a woman gone through the process and been actually voted and confirmed by the Senate. They want to stop Gupta and Kristen Clark. We should be standing with them. Well, not just we should be. Let's understand something.

This would be perfunctory. It shouldn't matter what the Republicans, what the conservatives, what the MAGAs are trying to do, quite frankly, because we have hegemonic authority within the caucus. We should not be worried about Democrats leeching off and not supporting her. Let's understand anybody who does not, they should have a primary challenge filed against them the day that they vote against it. And frankly, I think this is one of the places where we can learn from Trump, where things will be instructive, because Trump ain't give a damn whether or not you confirmed his nominees or not. He just put them there. And so I think for Joe Biden, he needs to make it clear to the Senate that whether you confirm or not, whether you have objections or not, I'm putting my people in place. And y'all can figure this stuff out later, just like President Trump did. The reason that his MAGA supporters supported him so much was

he did not care. He was going to fight for their agenda. You tell him he can't put up a wall, he'll steal some money for the wall. You tell him he can't ban the Muslims, he'll ban the Muslims anyway. And I think that Joe Biden has to have that same understanding that we're not having an old school malarkey showdown at the town square or wherever he thinks things used to be. This is a knife fight. And these people used to be this is a knife fight and these people have to be ready and prepared to fight with the same weapons they are because you have to push your agenda through there will be no second chance at this because as we articulated at the beginning

of the show if you do not put an agenda forward that motivates people to turn back out in 2022 and 2024 there won't be anything left to fight for. So you get the agenda done now and figure everything else out later. Monique? I just want to talk about and celebrate won't he do it? We lost Nero, but we gained a Shalanda. Just saying. Yeah.

Can you stay on topic? Get to your point. Isn't that the topic the topic is they tried to get rid of one woman of color and they got a black woman in her place we were talking about democrats needing to be gangster weren't we i'm on topic i resent you saying i'm not on topic just because i'm celebrating the fact that you win with black women. Can you stick to the two lawyers we're talking about? Oh, my God. Bonita Gupta, Christian Clark.

That's the topic. Oh, God. Okay, Scott, go ahead. Christian Clark. Okay, Scott, go ahead. No, you took too long. No, no, no. If it was reversed, I'd be skipping Scott. Scott, go ahead, Scott. I ahead. No, you took too long. No, no, no. If it was reversed, I'd be skipping Scott.

Scott, go ahead, Scott. I defer. I defer. I'm going to let my sister talk. She don't get to defer. This ain't her show. Scott, go. He gave me his time.

That never happens. All right. Criminals stole billions in COVID-19 unemployment benefits. Congress is about to approve another quarter trillion dollars in COVID-19 related unemployment benefits, even though the state-based system remains vulnerable to the same rampant fraud that allowed scammers last year to siphon off more than $40 billion in pandemic relief intended for the needy. Cybercrime, of course, is a huge issue. And look, bottom line is y'all want to put the rules in place to fix this problem y'all because again uh 40 billion dollars uh ain't no joke cybercrime experts including some who once made their living exploiting weak online systems one that as congress prepares to pass another

massive fusion of cash criminals have gotten smarter speaking of that democrats also now are lowering the threshold to get the covid checks what What the hell are they doing, Monique? 17 million people not being affected. You passed it. Why are you lowering the threshold? Right. No, they passed it in the House. They haven't passed it in the Senate.

Okay, they passed it in the House, but why are you lowering the threshold? First of all, President Biden promised $2,000 checks, not a $1,400. No. No, Roland. $600 we already got. Those of us who got those checks, whoever those are. No, no, no. Hold up. He promised $2,000 himself, not some other... That's $600.

No. It was always plus the $1,400 to make the $2,000. Why are they lowering the threshold? Why lower the threshold? Obviously because they are in the $2,000. Why are they lowering the threshold? Why lower the threshold? Obviously because they are in trouble on getting this legislation passed. And so they're trying

to make sure that the people who get this money aren't people like Scott who shouldn't be getting $1,400. First of all, let's be real clear. The threshold that they was at, Scott way beyond that bracket. So he won't get it anyway. Scott wasn't getting it. I wasn't getting it.

Robert wasn't getting it. Hey, Monique, you weren't getting that check. I wasn't getting Robert. Go Scott. Robert, go ahead. What do you think about lowering the threshold? The reason that the lowering the threshold makes absolutely no sense is that, for example, if you tell a defense contractor comes to the government and says, I can build you an F-35, it's going to cost $100 billion. And then 10 years later, they say, my bad, it cost a trillion. Nobody says anything. But we are quibbling over whether or not you're going to have $600 now and $1,400 later and $600 now and $2,000 later. Let's understand how rigged the system is against the common working man and woman in this country. When they were passing that $1.5 trillion tax cut three years ago, ain't nobody say, well, does it have to be $1.5 trillion?

What about $1.49 trillion? No, they just pass it and they keep going. And we have to start fighting as if we are winning the battle. Remember what we said earlier in the show. The Senate Democrats represent 40 million more people than Senate Republicans. They have won the popular vote in every election for the last 30 years, except for one in 2004. The manifest weight of the American people are behind economic stimulus. And if you need a further example, go back to the economic crash of 2008 and 2009, the Great Recession. We saw in Europe they did austerity measures where

they cut spending, they decided to retract the size of government, and it slowed down their economic recovery. And in fact, the nations like Greece and Spain, which were some of the most austere nations, ended up having to be bailed out by other European Union countries because they simply could not keep up with the downturn of the economy. Alternatively, in the U.S., we had cash for clunkers. We had all the economic programs that pushed the economy forward because they're under Keynesian economic theory, as opposed to Friedman and the School of Austerity and the Adam Smith wing of economics. There is no amount of economic stimulus that will be too much to stave off a recession. Going back to the origins of those theories, you can look at

the New Deal and the response to the Great Depression. The reason the New Deal was a failure was because it wasn't big enough. You need an economic stimulus the size of World War II to knock the entire globe out of a global recession. So this idea to somehow lower the threshold from 100,000 to 80,000 is saving us money. No, it is negating or retarding the economic recovery that we need to go through. And frankly, Democrats know this. They've argued this in the past, and there's no reason for them to be backing down because guess what? You have the majority. Most of the people in the country support you. The Republicans are a dying party who are bowing to a golden God at CPAC. Govern like you're in control. Act like you won the election, for Christ's sake.

Scott, Democrats need to be in there. They do. They have an inferiority complex. Right. Everything that Robert says is correct. You've got the people behind you. Let the Republicans vote no for a higher packet. Let Joe Manchin and his people vote no when the people are suffering and they need to get this money out at $1.9 plus trillion. Don't bid against yourself and say I'm going to lower the threshold when you don't even know what the vote's going to be. Let the Republicans fail the American people and then hang it around their neck like an anchor. Let the Republicans fail the American people and then hanging around their neck like an anchor. Don't give up the ghost before you even take a vote. Go to therapy,

but stand strong. That's my message to the Democrats on the House and Senate side. Money, final comment. You got one. There's this thing called a whip. And what they do is count votes, right? And so the reason why they're doing this, Scott, I've been with you all night, but now you're going too far, is because they know what they have and what they don't have. They do know what the vote is, and they do know what they need, and they do know that we have to get this package

out there. We have to get this package. We have to get this package out there to the American people. But to your point and to everybody's point, bipartisanship is not just in the House or in the Senate. The nation at large does in a bipartisan manner support this legislation. So the White House is right in saying that it is bipartisan. And so these GOP legislators will have to answer to their own constituencies when, not if, but when they don't vote for it. But I do understand that there is a need to negotiate in order for this to come out. And I know two, three, five, 20, maybe 100 small businesses that will immediately receive benefits once the legislation is passed. OK. Not ahead of the game, though.

Not ahead of the game, Monique. But look, this is my issue get and then negotiate something down. Scott, go. Right. First of all, the Democrats start negotiating down from the beginning. But go ahead. Go ahead, Robert. Yeah, my question is, what Democrat is it, because we have the 50-vote majority, or what Republican is it that changing the threshold by twenty thousand

dollars matters to them like realistically where's the the advantage of that where does it change the total cost of the bill where does it where does that change the cbo score on on the bill so it doesn't make sense for them to try to negotiate across the line because the people on the other side are manifestly against the concept, the idea. Remember, they have Maga vision. They're in their own bubble universe. That's not true to the rest of us. And but look, it's got a lot of Republican support. It does. That's that's not true. They isolated one issue. And there are Republicans who believe that rich folks are going to get this $1,400 and they're there. That's the hill they're trying to die on.

And so people are trying to fix it. Monique, these dumbasses talking about Dr. Seuss. You can lower. Look, you can limit this right now. You can lower this to a thousand and they still gonna complain. You can't make more of them than I do. All Robert is saying is... We don't have any bipartisan partnership. We moved on from Robert.

We're going to another level right now, Roland. We're going to another level. Come on now, Monique. But look, Roland, all you would have to do, if you really want to say, look, if you really want to change the CBO score, this is what you can do. Make the economic stimulus, make those direct payments where you have to opt into it. And all those MAGAs who claim to be against it, just tell them to opt out of it. And then you won't have to

have the economic threshold go down. Because all those MAGA people who stormed the Capitol, so he immediately checked the box saying, I don't want free government money. I'm an economic conservative. I believe in balanced budgets. And just say I don't want free government money. I'm an economic conservative. You know, I believe in balanced budgets and just say they don't get it. And then you won't need to lower the threshold. The math works out on it. Oh, no, they're going to get that money. MAGA wants that money.

Yeah. All right, y'all. All right. All right. Got a vaccine and he opening up the whole of Texas while he's fully vaccinated. All right, y'all keep running y'all mouths. Y'all know what time it is. Exactly.

No travel rules are allowed. I'm white. I got you, girl. Illegally selling water without a permit. On my property. Whoa! Hey! I remember.

Give me your ID. You don't live here. I'm uncomfortable. All right, we got a different type of crazy-ass white people. This is for all of the dumb-ass conservatives who give money to loser campaigns. Kim Clayton. Y'all remember her? That's right.

Little black girl in Baltimore who ran against Kweisi and Fumé. We all knew she was going to get her ass whooped. Y'all remember this little ass she ran here? Remember this little ass? Do you care about black lives? The people that run Baltimore don't. I can prove it. Walk with me. They don't. I can prove it. Walk with me.

They don't want you to see this. All right. Kim ran that ad. Donald Trump retweeted it. All Republicans like, yeah, we got us one. And let's just be clear. I've had Kim on the show. Kim ain't the light.

She ain't the brightest bulb in a dark room. She not. She not. But she raised nearly a dark room. She not. She not. But she raised nearly $2 million for the campaign. Y'all actually bought $8 million total. And all this money was raised. She raised a total of $8.3 million. Half of that money went to a company called Olympic Media,

the company responsible for the ad. Now, here's the deal. Also, a part of that, the groups that raise money, they start getting more of the ad. Now here's the deal. Also a part of that, the groups that raise money, they start getting more money. Some of these campaigns have it where the people who help them raise money get 67% of the money that they raise. Let me tell y'all something. Who's the biggest fool? The absolute biggest fools in America. I'm talking about straight up stuck on stupid, dumb conservatives. You know why? You get them fools to give money to anything. That fool Donald Trump got his ass whooped in the election.

These fools gave that man more than 200 million dollars to his pack when he was talking about give to us for legal defense fund. He kept losing in the courts. Rudy is charging $20,000 a day. Them dumbasses kept giving money. Now, she raised $8.3 million against Kwaezi Mfume. Let me tell you something right now. Kim Klachek could have got a body change and she could have went out and had her body changed to look like Madea or look like Halle Berry or hell, look like Angela Bassett and Black Panther.

Her ass still would have lost to KwaZm Fumeg. That fool who ran against Maxine Waters. I think his ass raised like three, four million dollars. We all know he was going to get his ass whooped, but them conservatives kept giving money. Now them same conservatives are whining and saying they want their money back because they gave

money to Kim's campaign and half the money went to the media company. Just like the Republican donor, I think he gave like a couple million dollars. He wants his money back from Trump. I'm sorry. Y'all stupid. Y'all some crazy as white people for giving money to folk who ain't got no shot of winning.

I don't feel sorry for not now. One of these folks, Robert, none of them. If you dumb enough to send Kim Klaychik a donation who had no shot, I mean none, zero zilch of winning, you got what you deserved. Well, look, Roland,

Kim's a friend of mine, and I'm gonna support her run. I think far before she ran for the seat, she was doing great outreach with homeless women within the Baltimore area. Robert, Robert, Robert, Robert, Robert, Robert, Robert, Robert, Robert, Robert, Robert, Robert, Robert, Robert. Hold up. I'm the one who put on TV I was next to her hold on Robert guess why she stopped coming on

because we posted a segment she wasn't mad at the segment she was mad at the photo or the screen grab we posted I said Kim are you serious Robert come on now you know Kim ain't the brightest bulb in a completely dark room

in politics in politics images everything Robert, come on. Now, you know Kim ain't the brightest bulb in a completely dark room. In politics, in politics, images, everything. And if she raised $8 million and I ain't raised a dollar, then guess what? I'm going to get the person with the check. But my point is this here, Robert. All them dumb white folks who mad because half of the money went to a media company. Guess what? You're the one who was stupid. She had no shot at winning. Look, if she had sent that $8 million

to you, you would be running the commercials right now. And guess what? You damn right I would. And all I'm saying is this here. What are we arguing about? No, no. We're not arguing. I'm laughing. Monique, these dumb conservatives don't realize the grift. They just giving that money to Candace Owens, grifter.

Giving that money to Charlie Kirk, grifter. Giving that money to that boy Tatum, grifter. We ran a video of these black conservatives talking where one of them admitted he was a grifter. Bottom line is this here. I don't feel sorry for any conservative who sent money to Kim's campaign and half the money went out the door the moment it came in. I don't feel sorry.

The grift is real, but I'm using my 30 seconds to say Rob, your loyalty is winning tonight. I am so thankful to you that I know you. This three lawyer panel is everything.

And that you would not roll over on your girl? I'm not going to say nothing about her because I see you prepared to defend her, so why would I do that? But that's it. Scott, Scott, Scott, here's what people

don't realize is there are people in the political game and it's all about the money. And they sit here, they represent folk knowing full well they're not going to win. And guess what? Look, when Ben Carson ran for president, he was raking in the money and was spending the money. Who was he spending the money on? The folks who were raking in the money. I was sitting here like, I don't know why y'all

giving y'all money to Ben Carson. His ass ain't gonna win. And again, that's the game. Republicans, it used to be the mail order system. It was all about the mail game. Now it's the online game. That's all they're doing. Again, all I'm saying is here, hey, a player ain't

hating the game. What I'm saying is y, hey, a player ain't hating the game. What I'm saying is y'all are dumb if y'all complaining, I gave my money. I sure as hell thought she was going to win in Baltimore. What the hell? They gave money, millions, to that boy who ran against Maxine Waters. Maxine Waters could be straight, laid up. Maxine could be kicking and smoking a cigarette in a robe with her hair tied and not run a spot, not send out a pamphlet, don't even walk the street. She ain't even got to yell into a megaphone and she was going to whoop his ass.

But they gave like four million. Hey, guess what? I celebrate the media company that made money on stupid people, Scott. Well, they made 50% on every dollar that she raised because of that ad. But in all fairness, let's say that, let's just be real clear. These individuals giving $8 million and the company taking $4 million of it, they were given because Donald Trump and his son endorsed it. They were given the curry favor with the GOP and Donald Trump and Donald Trump Jr. They weren't really giving to Kim Classic. They didn't really care whether she won or not. They cared because she stood what they believe in, in part, but in big part, because Donald Trump retweeted it and Donald Trump Jr endorsed it.

Man, let me tell y'all something. It was dumb to support the Trumps, then it was dumb money to put it before Kim classic. But then they didn't care whether she won or lost. That's the reality check I'm sharing with you tonight. Let me tell y'all something right now. If I hate it. Let me tell you something right now. First of all, what I'm doing is drinking some water on my damn show.

Let me tell y'all something right now. You can't get me all laid back. Let me tell y'all something right now. What you talking about? You sitting your ass in your living room. Palatial living room. Palatial. Can't leave that part out.

Palatial. You sitting in your palatial ass living room. Monique sitting in the corner in the office. Robert got a green screen or a damn step and repeat and is crooked as hell. The left side crooked and the right side straight. Let me tell y'all. I don't know who Rob is construction manager. Maybe that

was him who put that up. I'm going to lean to the side though so it straightens out. No, it don't. This can't be a show. This cannot be a real show. Let me tell you. Right.

Let me tell y'all something. I probably would be. Look, with my skill set, with my skill set, if I hated black people, if I wanted to trash black people, if I wanted to just use plantation language, I'd be worth a hundred million dollars. Because I could be raking in some money from them dumb white conservatives. Because let's just be real clear. Dumb white conservatives love a black-hating black person. Oh!

Yeah. That's why that ignorant fool Vernon Jones, knowing full well he can't do nothing there in Georgia. That's why he running his ass around crowd surfing with white folks at rallies because he's stupid. That's why you got Angie Stanton running her little mouth as CPAC with her maroon looking hair or red, whatever the hell color the hair. I'm telling you, it's all.

It's grifting. It's grifting. It's grifting. That's all I'm saying. And see, here's my deal. If I'm Kim, here's why I'm really mad. Kim should have set the media company herself. See, that's how you really get over it. You set the media company up yourself.

You do like, Donald Trump done created all these LLCs, all the money he's made from the all the money he made from the Secret Service renting colleges on his land as well. All I'm saying, y'all, is what you are dealing with is you're dealing with some grifters. Some straight-ass, thuggish grifters. And so,

hey, for every Republican who's upset that y'all lost that money, hey, suck it up. Suck it up. You wasn't going to be quite easy. Wasn't going to happen. So I don't feel sorry for not naming one of y'all. Look, Roland, Kim, look, if you're going to call it a hustle, she hustled eight million. Hustle hard. Angie Stanton, she got the best hustle. She finessed her way into a pardon. Do you know how hard it is to get a

pardon? So, look, if you can hustle your way into some millions and a pardon versus other people who have been working and fighting for the Democratic Party for years and got a t-shirt, then by all means, play on, play on. Oh, no, I got it.

I mean, look, you had a fool in Donald Trump, so he ain't no problem collecting all them crazy nutcases that were all around him. So, you know, that's the case. But all I'm saying, I saw this story, and I just cracked up laughing at all these Republicans just mad. I mean, I'm talking about they mad and upset want their money back the dog they mad and upset all their money went down the drain and i'm i'm just

i'm like hey i i'm like sorry whatever so and i you know what and i'm glad i'm glad you made that point uh about angie stat and you know i ain't talked i ain't you know i ain't talked about her in a while so uh let me just go ahead and give her a shout out. Oh, that's so wrong. And it don't matter because she got a pardon. That's how you hustle it. None of that matter because it's all pardoned now. Yeah, but the Internet lives on forever.

That record claim. Yeah. Uh-huh. So here's the deal. So here's the lesson in all this, Angie Stanton. Keep running your mouth about me. I'm going to keep making your ass famous.

All right, y'all, we got to go. If y'all want to support Roller Martin Unfiltered so we can continue to show photos like that of Angie Stanton, please do so by giving us a cash app, dollar sign RM Unfiltered, paypal.me

forward slash our Martin unfiltered Venmo comm for slash mark M unfiltered zeo rolling at rolling s Martin comm and then of course rolling at rolling mark on the filter calm let me give a shout out we got some checks in the mail Jacqueline Martin Milton hello mr. Martin last year my husband paid $50 in my name my husband is $50 in my name. My husband is a YouTube subscriber. So this year, I said to pay the $50 again. He called me a freeloader.

Well, she said, here's a check for $150. See? So what they said, he gave $50. She had to give her own money. I'm with the husband. I appreciate that, my brother. Thanks a lot. She tripled it.

I'm going to give you some money, Rola, Rolla this week how much money you want me to get uh the 10,000 you owe when you lost that bet alright Alfonso Strong hello how are you doing here's my $50 for joining the fan club for 2021 I love Rolla Martin unfiltered please

keep doing what you're doing you are a wealth of knowledge say that say that cause you, Scott needs to understand that more and more. Okay, that's it, y'all. Scott, I appreciate it. Monique, I appreciate it. Thanks a lot. Robert, thanks a bunch as well. And way to stick up for your girl.

But, yeah, still ain't the brightest bulb in the dark room. All right, y'all. I will see y'all tomorrow on Roland Martin Unfiltered. Don't forget, Coming to America, the sequel comes out on Friday. We all gonna be rocking the kente. Okay? Just letting y'all know. Everybody be rocking the kente. And then we got my interview, of course,

with Wesley Bell that we're gonna be airing on the show. So we're looking forward. We're looking forward to that. Matter of fact, you know what? I think Anthony sent me the... He sent me the... he sent me the, he said, do y'all have the promo? Okay, fine. Don't worry about it. Cause see, I don't need y'all to do that. I got it. Roll it. And so I became a judge of a small city because I'm thinking this is the way that I can really

impact the system. And then I'm sitting on the bench and I'm realizing 80 to 90 to 95 percent of the cases, by the time they get to me, they're already worked out. By who? The prosecutor. And so I'm starting to realize, OK, yeah, I can be that benevolent judge. I can work with people. But the real change is coming from that prosecutor's office. And that's what really made the light switch click on for me is when I'm constantly seeing these people come where I think they actually deserve a fair outcome, but they already worked this out with the prosecutor

and I don't really have much I can do. All right, y'all, that's on Friday right here, Roller Marker Unfiltered. I'll see y'all tomorrow. Holla! 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 Lott. 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 podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Sometimes as dads, I think we're too hard on ourselves. We get down on ourselves on not being able to, you know, we're the providers, but we also have to learn to take care of ourselves. A wrap-up way, you've got to pray for yourself as well as for everybody else. But never forget yourself. Self-love made me a better dad because I realized my worth.

Never stop being a dad. That's dedication. Find out more at fatherhood.gov. Brought to you by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Ad Council. This is an iHeart Podcast.