#RolandMartinUnfiltered - Ga. Senate pass voter suppression bill; Chauvin trial resumes; Cop attacks Black woman holding child

Episode Date: March 11, 2021

3.9.21 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: Georgia Senate passes dangerous voter suppression bill; Rev. William Barber talks COVID relief and the fight for $15; Republicans took aim at associate attorney general nominee Vanita Gupta; Derek Chauvin trial resumes; Rochester cop attacks Black woman holding 3-year-old-child; This week's Black business segment features The Black Bread Company; CAWP: Good Morning Britain's co-host, Piers MorganSupport #RolandMartinUnfiltered via the Cash App ☛ https://cash.app/$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. Thank you. Today is Tuesday, March 9th, 2021, coming up on Roland Martin Unfiltered.

Georgia State Senate, as we said yesterday, passed that voting rights restriction bill. We'll talk with Nse Ufot here at the New Georgia Project about what they are planning to do to fight voter suppression in that state. The current COVID relief bill has no provision for a $15 an hour hike in the minimum wage. We'll talk with Reverend Dr. William J. Barber

about how that can be made law. Senate Republicans took aim at Associate Attorney General nominee Vanita Guptas passed tweets at her confirmation hearing today. Really? Whiny-ass Republicans still complaining about tweets? Also, jury selection began today in the Derek Chauvin murder trial.

He's the man, of course, who killed George Floyd. Also, a Rochester, New York police officer is caught on camera attacking a black woman holding a three-year-old. We'll show you the video. In today's Black Business segment, you meet the three owners of the Black Bread Company. Plus, today's crazy-ass white person, Good Morning Britain's co-host,

now former co-host, Piers Morgan. Whoo, I can't wait to show y'all. It's time to breathe the funk. I'm Roland Mark, and I'm Phil Chitt. 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 knowing. Putting it down from sports to news to politics. With entertainment just for kicks. He's rolling. It's Uncle Roro, y'all. It's Rolling Martin.

Rolling with rolling now. He's funky, he's fresh, he's real the best. You know he's rolling, Martel. Now. Martel. Yeah, the Republican Party really is filled with a whole bunch of damn snowflakes. I mean, of course, they took down Neera Tanden, of course, who was nominated by Biden to be his head of office of management and budget over her tweets, critical of senators.

You had Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia, the Democrat, who was whining as well. Oh, I don't like her tweets. And the Republicans were complaining. And these are the same people who didn't said a damn thing for four years about all the shameful and despicable tweets of Donald Trump. Now all of a sudden they care about what folks tweet. The same thing happened today when they had the Senate

confirmation hearing for Associate Attorney General nominee Vanita Gupta. We had her on our show many times. She's of course head of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. Listen to this. Yeah, I was about to go there. This idiot from Texas who's an absolute embarrassment for those of us who are from Texas, Ted Cruz.

Watch this crap. The Department of Justice has a long history of being apolitical, of exercising fidelity to law, of not being used as a partisan weapon to target the enemies of whichever administration is in power. The Obama-Biden administration corrupted that process, and we are still dealing with the consequences. I believe appointees to the Department of Justice should have a demonstrated record of fidelity to law and impartiality and ability to defend the rule of law.

Ms. Gupta, as I look at your record, your record is one of an extreme partisan advocate. Your record is an ideologue. Now, there's a role in our democratic and political process for ideologues, for people that are extreme, radical advocates. That role, I believe, is not being the number three lawyer at the Department of Justice in charge of the impartial and fair administration of justice. As I look at your record on every single issue,

the positions you've advocated for are on the extreme left, and you've demonstrated an intolerance for and hostility to anyone that disagrees with the extreme left political positions. On the issue of abortion, is there any restriction whatsoever on an abortion that you believe is permissible? Senator, first let me begin by saying I'm sorry that you feel that way. As a lifelong civil rights advocate, my duty has been to enforce the Constitution, not enforce anyone's political agenda or partisan agenda. I have apologized today for some of the harsh rhetoric that I've used,

and I mean that very genuinely. And I'm not focusing on your college years. I'm focusing on as an adult and practicing lawyer but let's just start with a substantive question is there any is it permissible for the government to prohibit partial birth abortion yes or no senator my duty if confirmed will be to federal laws and the Constitution Roe versus Wade is established precedent and has been reaffirmed numerous times by the courts. And my duty will be to enforce the federal laws and the Constitution.

So you're declining to answer that. How about the Heller decision, which upheld the individual right to keep and bear arms, a fundamental right in the Bill of Rights? Was Heller rightly decided? Senator Heller is law of the land, and I will enforce Heller as president of the Supreme Court. So you're not answering that either. All right, let's shift to a different topic. Religious liberty. You've demonstrated significant hostility to religious liberty. You have defended the Obama administration's targeting and persecuting of the Little Sisters of the Poor. Not too long ago, religious liberty was a bipartisan commitment in Congress. The Religious

Freedom Restoration Act was introduced by then-Representative Chuck Schumer. It passed the House unanimously. It passed the Senate 97 to 3 and was signed into law by President Clinton. Now, today, today's Democratic Party has abandoned religious liberty. Indeed, the Equality Act, of which you are a vocal supporter that has now come out of the House of Representatives, is a radical piece of legislation that, among other things, explicitly repeals significant aspects of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act to take away our religious liberties. You have been a vocal defender of the Equality Act. Do you agree with the provision stripping RFRA's religious liberty protections from Americans? Senator, let me begin by saying that religious liberty is incredibly important to me. I am a person of faith. My family is one of deep and abiding faith. And this country's founding

freedom was rooted in religious liberty. I have defended religious freedom throughout my career. When I was at the Justice Department, I launched an interagency effort to protect religious liberty. I have defended religious freedom throughout my career. When I was at the Justice Department, I launched an interagency effort to protect religious liberty. Ms. Gupta, I appreciate that, but our time is limited. Senator, it's only fair to allow her to complete her answer. Mr. Chairman, I understand that she has things she wants to say, but I asked if she supports the repeal of RFRA. That's not the question she's asking. Senator, if you want to make a speech, you may make a speech. I'm asking a question. I'm asking a question and she's giving a speech.

And I understand that you support her nomination, so you're giving a speech too. But I'm asking a question. I'm asking you to allow her to answer. She was not answering. She's welcome to answer the question. The question is, do you support the Equality Act repealing RFRA's protection of religious liberty for Americans? Senator, I support RFRA. I have enforced provisions of RFRA and the Justice Department must enforce the law. The Justice Department enforces religious liberty and protects it. It also enforces our nation's anti-discrimination laws. Let me try it a third time. Do you support the Equality Act's repeal of RFRA's religious liberty protections? Senator, if confirmed as associate attorney general, my duty will be to enforce laws to protect religious liberty and the anti-discrimination laws that the Justice Department...

Okay, so you're declining to answer that as well. Actually, she did. Here's Senator Dick Durbin, who is the chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, speaking about the attacks from Republicans. Watch this. And would you like to say a few words about Senator Grassley's concern with your tweets? Thank you, Chairman Durbin. I do not support defunding the police. I have, in fact, spent my career advocating where it's been necessary for greater resources for law enforcement in things like body-worn cameras, officer wellness and safety programs, and any number of measures. I believe that is why I today enjoy the honor of

having so much law enforcement support. It would be with a great honor for me to return to the Justice Department precisely to continue to roll up my sleeves and work hand in glove and understand the current needs of law enforcement and some of the most challenging times that are presented for frontline responders. I have indeed, Senator, you know, talked about something that I hear reflected from police officers and police chiefs, sheriffs, and civil rights activists about the fact that for too long we have placed almost all or so many of our nation's social problems at the feet of police. From everything from homelessness to mental health issues to substance use

disorder and when we speak about this we speak about the fact that law enforcement has been dealt this burden of having to deal with all of these problems and the need for greater investment in mental health services and community-based drug treatment programs. And so when I've spoken about investments, it has been really about something that I've heard and I've talked to at length for years, long before George Floyd was killed with law enforcement, about the need to provide them supports and to not have them be the only go-to response holding the burden of law enforcement, to continue to advocate for their resources so they can do everything they need to do to keep our community safe and to have the trust of the communities that they serve. On the tweets, Chairman, and I appreciate you giving me this opportunity, and I should say to Ranking Member Grassley and to the other members who I understand have these concerns, I understand why you have them. I take them seriously. I regret the

harsh rhetoric that I have used at times in the last several years. I perhaps I think the rhetoric has gotten quite harsh over the last several years and I have fallen prey to it and I wish I could take it back. I can't. But what I can commit to you and ask that you do is look at my lifelong record. I have, from the early on in my career, sought out people who don't always think like me, people who have very different views, because I believe in the importance of building consensus to get things done. While I've been a lifelong idealistic civil rights lawyer, I am a deeply pragmatic person. I'm a relationship builder. I think that's why I have the trust of law enforcement today on some of the most difficult problems that we face.

And I understand that the position of associate attorney general is a law enforcement position. It has to be strictly nonpartisan in every measure. I must represent the full equities of the American people and enforce the federal laws and constitution free from any kind of partisan influence. I've done it before. I did it when I was at the Civil Rights Division. I've been in the Justice Department before. And I can pledge to you today that if I am confirmed, regardless, you won't be hearing that kind of rhetoric from me. And I will look forward to working collaboratively to continuing to support the leadership of people like ranking member Grassley, Senator Lee on criminal justice reform measures and other members, Senator Cornyn and others who have.

I've had the privilege of helping to support these bipartisan bills to get things done for the American people. Let's go to our panel. Mustafa Santiago Ali, Ph.D., former senior advisor for environmental justice at the EPA. Kelly Bethea, communications strategist, as well as Ben Dixon, host, Benjamin Dixon Show podcast. Kelly, I'll start with you. I'm just really, these whiny-ass Republicans. Oh, my God, you said these things in tweets. Oh, my God, they're so mean.

We're sitting there with supreme assholes, Senator Ted Cruz, Senator Tom Cotton, okay? You got that crazy nut Kennedy from Louisiana. You got the clueless wonder himself, Lindsey Graham. Four years of Donald Trump and all his crazy tweets, and they're whining, complaining, first by Neera Tanden's tweets, and now, oh, my God, the harsh rhetoric.

Let me be real clear to any future nomination, uh, that I might get, which will never happen. I don't regret not nab damn tweet. Kelly, go ahead. And, you know, obviously she's under oath, and she is as forthcoming as possible during these hearings, and rightfully so. But deep down, I don't really think she regrets them either,

because, you know, looking back on them, there was nothing that she said that was untrue. If anybody's heard about it, it is a conviction as opposed to an attack. You know, they feel conviction based off of what they actually did and possibly a singe of guilt, so to speak. But as far as Ted Cruz, I mean,

hypocrite is too kind of a word for this man. You know, cretin is a little bit more appropriate, but I can't think of anything that really adequately describes just how stupid and hypocritical and just anti-American this man is. He definitely has to go. And listening to him berate this woman for doing her job

when not even a month ago, he left to go to another country to evade doing his. I mean, again, with the hypocrisy, again with the stupidity and the selective listening and the selective memory, just go somewhere.

But not at the Senate. You just gotta go. The whining being is like, oh my God, really? I mean, really? Are we about to sit here and keep whining being is like, oh, my God, really? I mean, really? Are we about to sit here and keep whining about tweets? Yeah. Well, you see, for them, they have to find some kind of way to draw an equivalence, right?

Because extremism to them is marching up the steps of the Capitol on January 6th and trying to overthrow the government on behalf of a white supremacist president. And so since there's no analog on the left or in the Democratic circles, they have to pretend as though these tweets are the worst thing in the world. And they also have to pretend that her policies that she's fighting for are so extreme when in actuality, they are well within the normal range of consideration in the discourse in this country. So for them, they want to set the standard to this asymmetrical fight where no matter what we do

on our side, it's considered to be extreme. And no matter what they get away with on their side, they don't think anything of it. Mustafa? Vanita Gupta would be an excellent associate attorney general. She's put the work in, and that's the most important thing. She has fought for everyday people her entire career. You know, from the time she was at the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, you know, she's been fighting for LGBTQ rights. She's been fighting for Black and brown folks' rights. She's been fighting voter suppression.

She's been, you know, advocating and fighting for policies around economic justice and workers' rights. She's been on the right side of the issues. Ted Cruz, on the other hand, you know, if he wants to talk about tweets, you know, it's not that hard to go back and take a look at some of the things that he said over the last number of years that in themselves could be, you know, folks could very easily say these have been negative, these have been degrading, these have been this and that. That doesn't matter. The substance is about the policy and the work that you have put in as an individual. And there's no comparison

between the incredible work that she has done and the lack of work that has happened from the senator from the great state of Texas. Well, it's simple. Republicans cannot stand the likes of Vanita Gupta. They can't stand Christian Clark. But the reality is Democrats stand firm. They certainly are going to be certainly confirmed. So that's what our goal is. Let's shift to what's happening in Georgia. We've been focusing on that in so many different ways. Republicans, they are doing their best to screw over voters. They're going to cost taxpayers their $30 million with these changes if they actually get passed by both the House and the Senate and signed into law by Republicans. Let's just be clear, they're so angry and upset

because they lost, because Biden-Harris won the state, because John Ossoff, Raphael Warnock won the state, and they are deathly afraid that Stacey Abrams will be elected next year as governor of Georgia. That is what is going on. And so civil rights groups continue to sound the alarm, to push folks to make sure that things are done right and appropriate and fight these shameful laws. Nse Ufada, CEO of the New Georgia Project Action Fund, she joins us right now.

Nse, the thing that is crazy as we look at these bills here, the comments yesterday were just, well, you know, our constituents have so many questions and they question the integrity of the election. So therefore, we had to do something. No, you actually lost. And so really, you're changing these laws because you lost. How is the pressure from civil rights groups going on corporations in Georgia to stand up and speak out? I think that it is building and mounting every day. First of all, thank you, Roland, for having us on. How you doing, brother? All good. It is building and mounting every day. We are seeing, you know, these corporations making statements, affirming their commitment to democracy, but it's still not enough. We are asking for nothing less than a full-throated condemnation of these anti-voting bills, period,

point blank, the end. And saying that you support democracy or you affirm democracy is ridiculous. What is happening now is harmful, that based off of what can only be described as a disinformation campaign, constituents but also Republican legislators are changing laws and making bad policy and dismantling our elections infrastructure off of lies, big old lies, like that there's no data, there's no proof to support it. And so, yes, they were embarrassed because they lost. No, there's no widespread voter fraud. And no, no one asked for these bills. And so them tweaking it, trying to make it better

here and there, none of that, none of that is sufficient. We are asking for these corporations, these folks who spent the past 28 days in Black History Month giving us Martin Luther King quotes, these folks who, in the aftermath of Ahmaud Arbery's murder and George Floyd's murder, reaffirmed their commitment to black lives. We're asking them in this moment toirm their commitment to black lives. We're asking them

in this moment to affirm their commitment to black futures, that we can participate in our democracy, that we can participate in our elections, and that they can help us stop these attacks on voting in Georgia. The thing that Cliff Albright, Black Voters Matter, tweeted this, after hiding for weeks, Atlanta chamber issues this lukewarm statement, was there evidently afraid to post on their own page. Among other things, it's prefaced on the big lie that Georgia elections weren't already secure. This is what the quote from Dave Williams, an executive with the Metro Atlanta chamber. We continue to advocate for balanced legislation that makes voting more accessible and more secure. Repealing no-excuse absentee voting

does little to make the process more secure and does so at great risk to participation. That's weak as hell. Not only is it weak, y'all play it with us, and you need to stop. First of all, the parsing language. There were nearly 80 bills attacking voting, so narrowing in on absentee ballot or no excuse absentee balloting

is not the repudiation that we're talking about. So you condemned one, there's 79 more to go, number one. Number two, it's not even on your Facebook page. It's not even on your Twitter, your Instagram. If I wanted to know what the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce's position was on a matter, I'm not going to go to the AJC. I'm going to go to their social media platforms. So, like, why are they playing games with us? That's a good point. And so let me just go ahead and do this while, you know, since we're sitting right here. Let me see right here. Where's, where did I put? Cause you know, it's, it's, I'm laughing at these

people and what they're doing because again, they're scared to death of, of standing up. They're scared to death of speaking up. and that's one of the problems here. And the thing that I think is important, Henry, you can go to my iPad. Why are y'all so afraid to post this on your Twitter feed? Come on. Do you not, Stan?

See, I'm real petty. Ah, gee, okay. Yeah. I will doubt you again ever. Yeah, I'm real petty. Why isn't, you know, so we gonna talk about it. Why isn't this on your Facebook page? Roland Martin Unfiltered will be calling you tomorrow

to come on the show to discuss. Well, and that's interesting, too, because they want to play both sides. And this is not a both sides moment. This is 100% a which side are you on moment. This is a bright line clarifying moment, right? That either you are for voter suppression or you are not. There's little room for nuance in this particular discussion. And I don't want these corporations, particularly the ones that are based in Georgia, particularly the ones also, you have tens of thousands of black voters

in your employment, probably millions of black consumers and customers. So these lukewarm statements about being pro-democracy, that does not address the fact that the right to vote, the freedom to vote is under attack right now in Georgia and 33 other states because black folks showed up in historic numbers

in the 2020 election cycle. Period. That's what we're talking about. And you nailed it when you said the use of all of these MLK quotes and Black History Month quotes. And this is where I challenge these folks. Again, don't come to me with

all of this frankly acting. To me, it's acting. To me, it's performance art where you want to sit here like, oh, we're down with black people. No, no, no. Will you stand up on the issues? Will you have the guts

to stand up on the issues and call folk out and use your power? No, they're not going to do it. No. It's performance art, Roland. Right? It's performing blackness. It's performing wokeness. It's performing solidarity.

And this is the moment where we need you to actually act in solidarity. And I maintain that half of these companies could have killed any of these bills in their infancy. You know how powerful Coca-Cola is? You know how powerful Georgia Power is? Home Depot, Delta Airlines? These are all Georgia-based companies. When they want something, they get it. And so my thing is, don't come to me like you can't stop these voter suppression bills with these weak statements. What you're afraid of is pissing off these Republicans because the governor and the lieutenant governor have demonstrated that they don't have control over their caucus.

That they've tried to water these bills down and to make them less noxious, make them less odious, make them less horrible, and they haven't been able to because the Trump publicans in our Georgia legislature are not listening to them, right? They don't feel beholden to them or accountable to them, right? And so that's what they're moving from a place of fear. They should just say it because their silence in this moment is deafening, right? The idea that they could get on the phone with President Trump and say that there's no widespread voter fraud

in Georgia. Right. This is the graphic that the Black Voters Matter put out, and we're going to be sharing it as well. It says, where is corporate leadership on this issue? Stop Georgia. Stay with us by using your economic and political leverage to stop Georgia, HB 531 and SB 241.

Support the immediate passage of federal, matter of fact, I need to tell Cliff now, and that's a typo right there, of federal H.R. 1 and H.R. 4, the For the People Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. Divest support from all elected officials, Georgia and U.S. Congress, seeking to pass voter suppression and are blocking voting rights bill, it will not be business as usual.

And this is the thing, and this is where also, N.C., where we must also be willing to unleash picket lines in front of these companies to also raise awareness to the issue as well. I will see your picket lines, and I will also raise awareness to the issue as well. I will see your picket lines,

and I will also raise you black Democrats in the Georgia state legislature, that there are bills that the Republicans want. I went off last night because I found out that there's a gambling bill that the Republicans desperately want, and because of the evangelicals in their caucus, they can't get gambling in Georgia

without Democratic votes. And these folks were ready and prepared to vote on it. Meanwhile, they're on the floor crying about the attacks to voter suppression, and you rolling over and giving the Republicans what they want, acting as if this is business as usual. And so I think that we have a bunch of tools that are left to fight HB 531 and Senate Bill 241 and prevent them from

passing before they get to Governor Deal's desk for him to sign. And we are calling on, again, there shouldn't be a single black elected official and a single Democratic elected official that's going to vote yes on any Republican priority until they drop these voter suppression bills. We're not done yet. And so on that point, what you're saying to those Democrats, to Republicans, y'all want to pass that bill? We ain't moving on gambling. That's it. And I know you want it. Right. And you can't get it with just Republican votes alone. And so this is what minority parties do in parliaments and congresses all over the globe. Like this is the tool that they have. This is the leverage that they have. And I can't think

of a more worthy effort, a more worthy cause to use that leverage than in defense of voting rights. All right, NSEI, we certainly appreciate it. Thank you so very much. Tell people where they can go to reach y'all if they want to support this effort. We, newgeorgiaproject.org dot org on all social media, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, or NGPAF, New Georgia Project Action Fund, all across all social media platforms. All right, folks. Again, we want y'all to do that, to support this effort, because again, your voices matter. Keep in mind, again, you're a consumer. All of these companies, they're selling their products across the country, across the world. And so, if you live in your state and you make it perfectly clear, I'm not going into your store

or buying your product unless you speak out and stop this bill, trust me, they might start paying attention. Ensign, we appreciate it. Thanks a lot. Thank you. All right, folks, let's now pull up Reverend Dr. William J. Barber, who joins us. We're going to talk to him about the minimum wage bill, but I want to talk to him about this right here. Reverend Barber, again, April 3rd, 1968,

Dr. King talked about redistribute the pain. He talked about economic reciprocity. He specifically named companies that SCLC, they were targeting there in Memphis. In America, if you want to get folks' attention, what you make clear to them is you will follow the money. And so this is a right tactic to tell corporations, unless y'all speak up, we're coming after your money. Well, you're exactly right, Roland. And here's a couple of dynamics. My dear sister's so right. It's about Georgia, but it's also about the South, Roland. You know, Democratic, the black vote in the South has risen so high in the last few years in terms of its power, 40 percent of the electorate, in terms of its power.

We saw it happen in 2008 in North Carolina, Virginia, Florida, see it now in Georgia. We know that poor and low wealth people, for instance, were just somewhere between one and 22% of those that haven't voted. If you register them and then vote and push them out, they could change who sits in the Senate, who sits in the presidency, who controls these state houses.

So this is a power move. The South actually has the opportunity to change the country. If you have the Southern vote and if it's not suppressed, you wouldn't have enough Democratic senators who are so-called centrist to vote against, say, raising the minimum wage, those kinds of things. But here's the deal. Now, if we're serious about this, you've got to have civil rights organizations that have taken money from all these corporations, who have taken money and muted their voices, right?

Because some of the same groups that give a million dollars to a civil rights organization that give two million dollars to ALEC. We can't mute our voices. We can't be bought off. So if we're going to start, then that's a serious thing you're going to do. But you've got to be willing to say to them that when

there were issues with the gay community, and I was right with it, the corporations stopped that foolishness. You remember that, and I was right with it. The corporations stopped that foolishness. You remember that, Roe? Yep, of course. They stopped it. Yeah, North Carolina and Indiana. And Indiana.

But you got to, because the question is, you know, I've watched even with this minimum wage how muted some of our civil rights organizations' voices were. And, hold on, Reverend, let me also let me, let me also add to it, we need those LGBT groups Exactly. Their voices as well. You want black folks standing with you, where are you on voter suppression?

That's what I'm calling for. Because the bottom line is, if you put people in who win for voter suppression, guess what? They're against LGBT issues. They're against Latino issues. They're against Latino issues. They're against education issues. So we've gotta decide what our relationship is gonna be

with these corporate voices. And when we saw in this recent minimum wage battle, we didn't see the kind of outcry that we should have. I've heard some civil rights organizations talk about indexing and maybe we didn't need a 15 minimum wage in certain parts of the South. Maybe it could be less. So my system that we're raising is a serious issue,

and it's about the power of the black vote and the black progressive white-brown vote hooking up. Remember, Dr. King said and C. Vaughn said in his historic book that the whole issue of anti-voting rights was also about economics. And we can't miss that. And so I think they're exactly right. We've got to put some heavy pressures on. If you could stop anti-LGBT bills with corporate dollars, you can stop these voter suppression bills with corporate dollars. And we ought to be pushing it hard. And we ought to be willing to take on these Dems and address these so-called centrists. Because if we're getting ready to go into a fight rolling under this democracy bill,

you know, they're not going to get that done with Republican help. So are they going to go right back through the same foolishness about, you know, we need 60 votes and let Manchin, is it going to be Joe Manchin or Joe Biden? You know, that's going to be the question. When we come to the John Lewis bill, is it going to be a strong Voting Rights Act? Not just an act, but is it going to grandfather back in all the states that were taken out? We got to redefine print so that what folk don't do is put John Lewis's name on the bill. But the bill is so weakened that it doesn't reflect John Lewis's name on the bill, but the bill is so weakened that it doesn't reflect John Lewis's struggle? Or are we going to let it go through

and the Democrats are going to be unwilling to break the filibuster and allow them to block it again in the Senate over a filibuster, over some, you know, some strange rule? I mean, these are battles that we have got to be able to wage in this moment. When we talk about, again, this $15-not-a-living wage, you see the folks, there were, you know, the eight Democrats, you know, who voted against it. Eight right.

Eight millionaires. Eight on Friday before Bloody Sunday. And they voted against 45% of black folk coming up out of poverty, because that's how many, 45% of black workers make less than 15. And we got 74 million women poor in this country, millions of black and white people.

And did you see the lady from cinema where she did the dance, man? She was, like, glad. Then she did a thumb down like McCain, and then somebody said she went over and sat down and started eating chocolate cake. Well, she... And then, of course, then she tried to reiterate afterwards her support,

and I'm going, but you could have voted yes. Right. And to hide behind a parliamentarian... The parliamentarian rule was used to block every anti-slavery bill before the Civil War and a lot of the post-Civil War reconstruction bills and civil rights bills. Let me tell you how simple this was and why it's so bad. Now, understand, we are glad for a lot of the things in the bill. All right. We fought for them. We put them before the administration, the child tax credit.

It needs to be permanent. It's temporary. That's a good thing. But it's not enough. Earned income tax credits, getting the vaccines out, the money going to cities and municipalities. But we keep hearing people rolling who just want us to act like this is the second coming of Jesus Christ, like $1.9 trillion. We should just be quiet. Everything is fine. They're saying that we're going to end 50 percent of child poverty, which is not true.

Now, it's good, and it's going to have an impact, but it's temporary, and we're getting numbers in that say, no, it will not end 50 percent of child poverty. And even if it did, that still leaves 18 million, 19 million poor and low wealth, poor children. So let's get real about this, okay? The good things are in it. We honor those. We're glad. We gave corporations $4 to $5 trillion. Corporations got $1.2 or $3 trillion without even going through the Congress. So let's not make this more than it is. Let's say it's significant, it's important, it's great, but it is also flawed. And it's flawed because if the Dems had not signaled that they would not go against the parliamentarian,

and if they had kept it in the bill, and if Schumer had kept it in the bill, then the parliamentarian could have advised that it not be carried forth. McConnell would have called for a motion, excuse me, the parliamentarian would have advised. But then the vice president could have overruled the advice. And guess what, Ron, it would have taken 60 votes to overrule Vice President Kamala Harris's overrule. Sixty votes. And they didn't have 60.

When Schumer took it out of the bill, see, it was sent over by Bobby Scott, Black Caucus, and the House. They had it in the bill. When Schumer took it out, it forced Bernie to have to make an amendment, but an amendment could be overridden by one vote. See, this is the stuff that we often don't hear. So this was doable. They could have kept it, and they know that Manchin and those other seven would not have killed the whole bill just to go after a graduated 15.

It wasn't even 15 immediately. His numbers are bad in West Virginia. Poor and low wealth people. I've been there twice. They are livid about what happened. And so we have to say what's good in this bill, but we also have to say we blew an opportunity. The Dems did. Those eight Dems. We knew what the Republicans would do, so we're not even counting them. That's why we voted them out. But Dems ran on this. And if it had happened,

49 million poor and low wealth people would have been raised to $15 minimum wage. It would have pumped $330-some billion into the economy. That's what we're talking about. And 45 percent of African-Americans vote. So it's not going to happen tomorrow. It should have happened. Now we've got to say, what's the plan to go forward? We've got to get this done. You cannot lift folk out of poverty and say you're going to give the children a temporary tax credit, but you're not going to let the parents earn a living minimum wage. That makes absolutely no economic sense in microeconomics or macroeconomics. You, of course, you have the battle going on now.

So the question is for President Joe Biden, he will not come out against the filibuster. Democrats are still dancing around this. Manchin says, oh, he may make it tough or may require them to speak on it. to understand, I'm just trying to understand if you didn't have one Republican in the House and one Republican in the Senate vote for a COVID relief bill, please show me where you think you're going to find 10 to vote on the George Floyd Justice Act,

10 to vote on minimum wage, and 10 to vote on the John Lewis Voting Act. I'm sorry. I can't even... Maybe Ford. Maybe Murkowski.

Maybe Collins. Maybe Romney. Maybe Toomey. But I don't think so. Look, Toomey, in Pennsylvania, the Democrat up there that voted against raising the minimum wage the other day, 2.9 million of the people in Pennsylvania

make less than a living wage. That's just on the Democrat side. None of the Republicans. Now, watch this, Roland, and your audience. You know, Manchin voted for Barr. He voted with the Republicans on all of the Supreme Court picks. So why is people thinking that he's going to do all of this? He's lying when he says, I'm going to get 10 to do infrastructure.

I can get 10. No, he can't. He couldn't get one. And he actually said the reason he even had them pull out, put the cap on, was to get more support. You didn't get one. None. And I'm

telling you, all in those mountains up there, when I was in a meeting with him and the people from the mountains, one of them said, Mitch, we know your mama. What is wrong with you? They don't even like it and the people from the mountains. One of them said, man, we know your mama. What is wrong with you? They don't even like it. But here's the thing. We need to say loud and clear, with love but with the truth,

President Biden, Jesse Hamms, Strom Thurmond, why do you want to be anywhere near what they did? And what did they do? Use the filibuster. Use the filibuster. It's been used. And that's the speech he needs to make. He needs to lay out what he wants to do. He needs to say how it's going to impact black people, white people, brown people, poor people, and why,

and say, on this basis, I am not going to allow me, allow myself and my vice president to be anywhere aligned with this filibuster rule that is not constitutional. I heard Manchin say today, well, what kind of Senate would we have if everything came down to a 50-50 vote in the Senate that the founders originally designed to have? And if it's right, it shouldn't matter if you get one vote or two votes or three votes. If it's right, you should do it. He hasn't fussed at the Republicans. When they overrode filibustering to put people on the Supreme Court, he voted with them.

So we've got to decide, is it Joe Manchin or Joe Biden? And we've got to decide, is it Joe Manchin or Joe Biden? And we got to say that very clearly. And they've got to stand up this, because otherwise we could end up rolling with them filibustering the voting bill, filibustering infrastructure, filibustering the John Lewis bill, filibustering expanding health care, filibustering 15, get us back into 22 in the election. Remember, Warnack has to run again in Georgia. Well, why did people come out for Warnack and Osa? It was because they said they would do 15, they would do racism, and they would expand health care. So what we are allowing is Manchin and that crowd to undermine the two senators that gave them the majority. And that's why we've got to push hard.

That's why we ought to be challenging these corporations. That's why all of these groups ought to be clear on this and speaking forthrightly. You know, somebody criticized us when we said, we challenged and said to Vice President Harris, this may be your Esther moment. They thought we were being ugly to her. No, what we were saying was, don't let them take your power. You have power. Don't let these white boys take your power. Don't let them undermine a power that's given to the presider of the Senate.

Don't let them undermine you for the future when you're going to need poor and low-wealth voters and workers to support you. This is the moment to say to the president, I'm a black woman. Seventy-four million women are poor and low-wealth. Sixty percent of my people are poor and low-wealth. Loose me. Do not put me in a box and say I cannot override this parliamentarian. If they can

get 60 votes to override my override, then fine. But I want to go down in record of not allowing one parliamentarian to have more influence than 140 million people and 49 million people making less than the way. And we have to have that same commitment. Now, she won't get to do this outside of reconciliation. So now the only way to move this other stuff is they're going to have to break that filibuster. So it's going to be, are you on the side of Joe Manchin? And if Joe Manchin wants to stand with Jesse Hamlin and Strom Thurmond in using the filibuster, then the question is, Senator Schumer, Speaker Pelosi, Joe Biden,

do you want to stand there or do you want to stand with the people? Simple as that. Reverend Dr. William J. Barber, we certainly appreciate it. Thanks a lot. Take care, my friend. Thank you very much, Frat.

Let's go back to my panel here. Mustafa, I'll start with you this time. Look, either you're going to fight, either you're going to use everything that's in your going to fight, either you're going to use everything that's in your arsenal to fight, or why in the hell should you even be in the majority if you're not

going to fight? If you're not going to fight hard for all the stuff you campaigned on? Exactly. And that's what, you know, you brought hope back to people. They said, things are going to be different this time. We're going to have somebody who actually cares about me, who cares about my family and is willing to stand up for that.

And when you're not willing to do that, then it creates, you know, a situation where folks just get tired. They get tired of giving you their vote. They get tired of giving you their trust. And you just got to make some decisions. And I appreciate Reverend Barber so much because the reality is that the president has put together a number of incredible sets of ideas and executive orders, but that just doesn't get it done. So you have got to get rid of the filibuster because if you don't, you will blink and we will be at the midterms. And folks across the country will be looking around and they'll say to themselves, you said you were going to do X, Y, and Z, and you didn't do it. And we know that the Republicans, when Obama came in, they said, we're going to make sure he's a one-term president and that he doesn't get anything accomplished.

And they were successful in many aspects of that. And the same thing is playing out today in relationship to the Biden administration. There are folks who do not want you to be successful, and they will do whatever they can to make sure that doesn't happen, and you are helping them, but not utilizing all the tools that you have to actually get this amazing agenda done.

I'm confused, Ben. How you negotiate against yourself? I mean, if the other side is clear, we ain't voting for nothing. I'm negotiating against myself. That's

not compromise. It's the game. It's the game that Joe Manchin plays. It's a game that we have to see if Joe Biden is going to continue to play. It's the respect more for the institutions than for the people. And because of the challenges that we're facing with voting rights, it's going to be a very clear-cut decision that Joe Biden is going to have to make, along with the rest of the Senate Democrats.

What side are they on? Are they more interested in protecting the institutions because the institutions, the institution of the filibuster, has been an impediment to progress for a very long time? That's why it's there. And so if they can't make that decision, they're going to find themselves

on the opposite side of the entire Black community because there are so many critical issues that Republicans simply are not going to let pass because of the filibuster. I crack up, Kelly, really, as I sit here and hear Senator Manchin actually say over the weekend, you know, I did these things to get more support for the bill, a bill that is supported by 70 plus percent of the country. And then not a single Republican voted for it. So I'm trying to figure out what the hell support was he talking about? I couldn't tell you, but the differences between

Biden and Obama are already quite apparent just from jump. But specifically when, at least this is how I see it, when Obama was talking about hope and change, he was talking about the American people, about hope in us changing. But it appears that when Biden talks about hope and change, he puts his hope in an institution that constantly fails us. He's putting his hope in colleagues that back in the day, they may have been able to get something done. But now it's not like that anymore because we are in a post-Trump era. We are in one of the most partisan congresses and administrations that we've had really since the Civil War.

And he is still in this age of nostalgia or this mentality of nostalgia, like, you know, oh, I know Manchin. Oh, I know Romney. I know these people. Like, they'll help me out. No, they will not. The game has changed. And us, the American people, put our hope in you

because, frankly, you took away our other options as Democrats. So you're in the seat. We put our hope in you because it was either you or Trump. So given that, you need to recognize that. Well, I mean, but here's the deal, Kelly. Obama played the same game. The first stimulus bill, 40% of that bill was tax cuts.

40%! I understand that, but he also only had two years to get his agenda across, and the Republicans were adamant about making sure that he was a one-term president. No, no, no, no, no. Kelly, you got to remember,

he had the majority. I understand that. He had the House and the Senate. That's not what I'm talking about. No, no, what I'm saying is this here. Obama abided by the same institution. And the reality is this here. And this is the deal.

Obama played the game the same way Joe Biden, President Joe Biden is playing the game. President Obama and President Biden are playing the same game. You want to respect the institution. No, no, no, no. You drive your agenda. When Donald Trump didn't give a damn about no rules, didn't give a damn about... Mitch McConnell didn't give a damn about the rules, the traditions.

They drove agenda. And I get that. Democrats are the only ones who are playing, hey, you know what? There are rules, there are procedures, there's process, there's custom. They ain't playing for keeps. And that's the problem here. And I understand that.

And that's my point. What I'm saying is in the Obama administration, again, this was a pro pre-Trump era. So him abiding by institutions was the name of the game for both Democrats and Republicans. No one expected that to happen to Obama. But now we expect that to happen to Biden. Yes, we did. A post-Trump era. So what I'm saying is when it comes to Biden thinking that he can do what Obama did or even do what previous Democrats before Obama did, he needs to disabuse the notion that that is still

the game that can be played. That is no longer. So when you're talking about the Democrats pushing and advocating for themselves, and I've said this on your show before, Republicans will come hell or high water get in line, whether they believe in the agenda or not. They understand the power of the party. Democrats are so splintered at this point outwardly that it doesn't appear that they know how to get in line with an agenda. So to your point, that's exactly what they need to do, but that's not what's happening right now.

No, of course not. And what I'm saying is, what I'm saying is, Democrats being played nice. Simple as that. Obama played nice. Obama sat here, you know, all they're going to do the right thing. You know, he talked to him, had him over. No, this is real simple. You got two years right now. You're President Joe Biden. You got the House. You got the Senate. There's no guarantee you're going to have the House or the Senate after 2022.

So you know what? You better maximize while you can. That's what Obama didn't do. Hey, I know they all danced around. Hey, they didn't want to go hard at Ruth Bader Ginsburg to get her to step down. Okay, they should have. They'd be like, yo, look, listen, after

14, man, I had this thing. Okay? And so what happened? They rolled the dice. Everybody was like, oh, Hillary's going to win. Well, we see what happened. Now you ain't got 5-4. Now you got 6-3.

Bob Londis is here. You got to play hardball. And if they want to dance on this whole deal, you playing with fire. And here's the last point, Ben. If you don't drive your agenda now, I'm telling you right now, I don't give a damn. Y'all, you are not going to get the same people

to go out and try to convince more folks in 2022 to give us a second shot. They're going to say, what the hell did the last shot we gave you? Thanks. I mean, growing real quickly, I mean, I don't know why we expect folks to do something different than they've always done. These folks were willing to put people's lives in danger and to take people's lives.

If we remember how these COVID-19 bills, you know, the stimulus bills have rolled out, they were willing to take time after time after time, slow it down, and then not put the proper things inside to literally protect people's lives from a pandemic. So if they're not willing to do that correctly, do you really think that they care about people in the hollies of West Virginia? Something that I know about where people are literally living sometimes in houses that look like they're about to fall down, not because the people don't care about their houses, but because they don't have any resources to be able to do anything with it. These folks are not going to do the right thing. The Biden administration, who I have supported and shared information with

on how to do certain things, if you're not willing to stand up and do the right thing, then folks are done. It's just that simple. We want to believe, you know, hope is a great thing, but you got to put some action behind it. And you have the action if you get rid of the filibuster, all of these things that we talk about, about climate change, about addressing these racial injustices that are happening, around housing, around infrastructure, it is not going to happen if you allow the filibuster to stay in place because they're just not going to allow it to move forward

because many of these things are transformational. If you get the infrastructure stuff right, it could be transformational if you make sure you have the right elements in there so that black and brown folks and other folks finally get a piece of the pie. And they're, you know, and actually building wealth inside of their communities.

And we can go down the laundry list of these, these very important things that they're talking about, but it is impossible. And I don't know why we keep living in this fantasy land. Everybody knows I'm a huge optimist, but I'm also a realist. If you tell me and you show me that you are not willing to care about your people or anyone else,

and I'm talking about the Republicans right now, because they will sacrifice their own. They will get behind. You saw how they put all that energy when they knew that the corporations were gonna get their piece of the pie when we put that first stimulus bill together. But after that, it got real thin, real fast, and every action since then has got thinner and thinner and thinner. And just real talk for folks.

You know, $1.9 trillion is important, but there have been a couple other bills that you should look at from another set of folks that they put through that had big numbers in them also, and they were okay with those big numbers because they were going to business and industry, they were going to the special interests and the others who had been supportive of their agenda. So we just need to stop playing and acting like we don't know what time it is. And you know that famous saying is, when someone shows you who they are, believe them. You've been shown time and time and time again. It's time for you to use the tools that you have to actually save people's lives and

to help people to begin to believe again in democracy because they see you living out what you said you were going to do. Ben, final comment. Yeah, no, it's it's I'm enjoying this conversation because it really cuts to the core of the issue. Right. These are games that are being played with us. Dr. Barber actually outlined the game where Democrats knew that if they did it now, they could strike down the fifteen dollars an hour with one vote versus taking down the entire bill with 60 votes. Right. They they know what they're doing. The establishment knows the game. And like Mustafa said, there are structural changes that could happen with any number of these pieces of legislation.

That structural change will benefit the black community in ways that this system is not quite ready for. $15 an hour is a structural change. You know, there's voting rights is a structural change. And when we come through and utilize our power, we see what they do by virtue of what's happening in Georgia right now. They are terrified of black people actually having power in this country. And it's not just Republicans.

It is Democrats like Joe Manchin, Kyrsten Sinema and the other six that voted down that $15 an hour. They ain't going to give you power. You got to take it. It's as simple as that. Thanks. Got to go to commercial break. We come back. We'll talk about the beginning of the trial of Derek Chauvin, the former Minnesota police officer who killed George Floyd. That is next on Roller 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. 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 you're pained. 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 nearly $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 until we get it. I'm not going to give up. We just need all of us 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 this a 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. Hello, everyone. It's Kiara Sheard. Hey, I'm Taj. I'm Coco.

And I'm Lele. And we're SWB. What's up, y'all? It's Kiara Sheard. Hey, I'm Taj. I'm Coco. And I'm Lili. And we're SWB. What's up, y'all? It's Ryan Destiny. And you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. Well, there are some videos coming from Capitol Hill that, you know what, I just got to play because they just go right to the issue. Check this out. This is Congressman Tim Brown of Ohio.

He is potentially going to run for Senator Rob Portman's seat who announced he is not seeking re-election. Woo! This is what I'm saying. Watch this. Mr. Speaker, one of the earlier speakers said this is the most dramatic change in labor

law in 80 years. And I say thank God. In the late 70s a CEO made 35 times the worker. Today it's three to four hundred times the worker. And our friends on the other side running around with their hair on fire. Heaven forbid we pass something that's going to help the damn workers in the United States of America. Heaven forbid we tilt the balance that has been going in the wrong direction for 50 years. We talk about pensions, you complain. We talk about the minimum wage increase, you complain.

We talk about giving them the right to organize, you complain. But if we were passing a tax cut here, you'd be all getting in line to vote yes for it. Now stop talking about Dr. Seuss and start working with us on behalf of the American workers. I yield back the balance of my time. The gentleman yields back. The gentleman is reminded to direct. Oh, man. See, here's one of the things that I think, Ben, I'm going to start with you in this round here. The House is going to vote tomorrow on the COVID relief bill. First, the House voted, went to the Senate. The Senate passed their version.

The House is going to vote on the Senate's version. And Democrats, and I tweeted this last night, they bet down the Biden folks are saying they're not going to make the same screw-up that Obama did, where Obama's like, no, we don't need to sit here and explain to people all the stuff that's in the bill. They'll figure it out. That was one of the stupidest damn things. That's why I said sometimes you can be so smart, you dumb. That was just one of the dumbest things I ever heard, because President Obama had this notion that, oh,

they'll figure it out. No, bruh. 80% of your job is selling. The president, you're a salesman. That's your job. And so the Democrats should be preparing. I'm talking about they should be flooding Instagram and Facebook and Twitter

with memes, breaking down in a simplistic way the bill, breaking it down in 60-second bursts who the COVID relief bill impacts and who it helps. Because if they don't, then you allow the other side to demonize you and then completely rebrand exactly what you're doing. What Tim Ryan says in this video clip right here is powerful because Republican Party, they literally have positioned themselves as we're the party of the American worker. How? Houseway, right? So, but this is, this is the, you hit the nail on the head, right? It's the

messaging, right? There were so many good things that are in the Affordable Care Act that it was just poorly managed in terms of the messaging. And similarly with this $1.9 trillion, there are good things in it, even though there are things that we're upset about, there needs to be messaging. Even with the checks, Donald Trump had enough sense

to put his name on the check. Might be tacky, but it was the messaging. Those were Trump checks. Biden isn't doing that. And by them not doing that, it actually gives space for Republicans to turn around and take credit for something that they did not vote for. And Republicans have no qualm, no compunction whatsoever

about being that level of a hypocrite. And so, by Tim, this speech by Tim Ryan is so powerful. The thing is, is that we have to have consistency in that type of messaging every single day. The gag is if you talk about being the party of the working people like Tim Ryan just did, you've got to actually deliver. This to me is, again, Kelly, this is basic-ass communication. And I tell you, I hope the Democrats don't blow it. I really hope they don't.

I mean, I'm talking about it has to be, as Joe Madison said, you've got to put it where the goats can get it. You've got to break down in simplistic terms, you know, who this helps. Because the other side, oh, trust me, they demonized the stimulus bill under Obama and was privately writing letters requesting that stimulus go to their particular districts. And see, I think Elkhart, Indiana, perfect example. Man, them white Republicans there were killing Obama. The stimulus bill saved that damn city. He did not want to take a victory lap. Biden Democrats better be sitting here looking like Carl Lewis running around a track stadium or Usain Bolt taking a

victory lap because that's what you're supposed to do when you win. Absolutely. So one of the very few things that Democrats can actually take note of when it comes to the Republican Party is their messaging, because something that they do incredibly well is making their agenda very concise, very understandable, and very movable in a sense that it can be placed anywhere and it will be understood. Democrats haven't been able to do that very well. as asinine as some of their initiatives have been, even with things that not necessarily the Republican Party has come up with, but some things that they actually ascribe to, like stop this deal, slogans like that. The closest thing that I can think of

that the Democrats have done thus far regarding that is the big lie. And frankly, that's a little too late to even push because they didn't do it when the big lie. And frankly, that's a little too late to even push because they didn't do it when the big lie was actually happening. So something that the Democrats can do in this regard is to get ahead of the game and actually sit down with their comms people

who, frankly, are being underused at this point. I know plenty of them who have great ideas as to how to market this, how to message this to not just the elite on the East Coast and the people who are in big tanks. But Kelly, Kelly, okay, since you know a lot of these people, why are they so bad at putting out videos?

I'm serious. They're bad. No, they bad. They bad. I mean, I'm serious. I mean, of all Democrats who whine about the Lincoln Project, I'm like, why aren't y'all studying them? I don't, I mean, during this whole presidential, the best Don Winslow, Midas Touch, other groups,

they would have sitting in the ones punching back. I just, I don't understand why, how Dems don't know how to message. I don't understand that. And what I'm trying to say is it, I can't speak for these people, right? But from my point of view, it feels as though when the Democrats look at the Republicans and even vice versa,

they see the other as less than, as if they can't take lessons see the other as less than, as if they can't take lessons from the other side. And that's my point right now. You can take a lesson from the people that you are against. And the lesson that needs to be taken right now, especially when it comes to Democrats learning from Republicans, is messaging. Because the person who isn't involved in politics whatsoever can at least somewhat describe what a Republican is about, whether it's true or not, the message can be conveyed from somebody who doesn't know what a Republican is. When it comes to Democrats, again, what I was saying previously is that they are so splintered in their messaging that they don't know how to, you know, to merge and make things concise and

streamlined because they are so hard-nosed on whatever cause they feel like is most important. And my point is, when it comes to the Democratic Party, similar to the Republican Party, get in line with your messaging. Get in line with whatever agenda you are trying to push at that moment. I just don't— And possibly your message will actually come through. I just don't understand it. I mean, here's a perfect example, okay?

This ad was dropped six hours ago. This was dropped six hours ago by the Lincoln Project. Here's what I don't understand, okay? The tweet says, representation matters. It's time to support brilliant and qualified women, not hold them back. I'm trying to understand, why are the Democrats putting this kind of video out for Vanita Gupta, for Kristen Clark?

Y'all watch this. How many young girls are raised today too afraid to speak their own minds? Scared of being attacked for having an opinion? Fearful of being called bossy? Arrogant? How many of them just stay silent? It's time to turn the corner on the all-too-familiar phenomenon of what happens when a woman speaks her mind. Because that's just what we are seeing today with Kristen Clark and with Vanita Gupta,

two brilliant and qualified women nominated for powerful roles within the Biden administration. Smeared and vilified, despite their qualifications and widely accepted views. Would this be happening if these were men nominated? What are you afraid of, Senators? It's time to throw those double standards overboard, for Clark and for Gupta. And for all the young women out there who yearn to lead, if only given examples to follow. It's time. The Lincoln Project is responsible for the content of this advertising.

Muzafa, please, please explain to me how the Democratic Party did not put that video out. You know, y'all probably get in trouble for this, but, you know, sometimes when you got a whole lot of folks who went to Ivy League schools and, you know, studied at business schools, that you forget about how do you actually talk to everyday folks. I'm not taking anything away from those who've been blessed to be able to do that.

And, you know, the Lincoln Project and Media Matters, a couple of other folks, are actually building a strong base that actually follows them and believes and trusts in them. So the Democrats have a choice to make. Do you want to actually not only hold on to the base that you have, but expand that base so that they are then activated

and wanna get engaged and support you in the tough times and uplift you in the good times. And if you don't, somebody else will continue to fill the space, like the Lincoln Project, and a couple of others are doing. And the other part of it that we talk about here on the show is when content is being created, you also better be getting it to black and brown media. So one, they should be playing a role, of course, in the creation of it, but that they are also getting it out.

So you're going to have to support with your dollars. So, you know, folks they really want to help people, and if they really want to get people engaged in the civic process and push at these various levels that we've been talking about today. Ben, I'm serious. I do not understand how. And look, there are a lot of people out there. The New York Times has done these articles on the Lincoln Project. People are saying it's a scam. It's supporting Republicans. And look, you can say all that. That's fine if you want to. That is a real-ass ad.

That is how you should be messaging when your nominees are under fire. Yeah, yeah. I absolutely agree. I mean, I can't possibly talk about the Lincoln Project at the risk of angering all the people who like them. I absolutely cannot support the Lincoln Project, but I got to call a spade a spade. That's a great ad. And they do a better job than the Democrats, like you're saying. And it's a shame that some of the best advertising that we got during this entire election cycle came from Republicans, and those dollars that they got are going to inevitably

end up supporting some Republicans in the long run. That said, the Democrats are pathetic at this. And I think some of it has to be counted, chalked up to intentional. In some cases, Roland, you can't be this incompetent and be at that level. Some of this has to have a level of intentionality

that we have to address. I think some of these fights, they don't want to fight because if they actually speak up and have to fight these fights, then they have to start delivering. And I don't think that they want to deliver on behalf of us. I also think it's an issue of them resting on the morals of them being right. You know what I'm saying?

Like, it's clear that the Republicans right now are in the wrong. And for whatever reason, it's like, they think that Americans will just be like, oh, clearly they're wrong. Let's just go Democrat. And that's just not how politics works. That's not how any type of messaging works.

You have to tell people why you are right and of messaging works. You have to tell people why you are right and somebody is wrong. You have to tell people why to be on your side. And you have to do it effectively. And you have to do it concisely. Otherwise, the message will be lost, regardless of if it's good. But what you can't do, and what I'm noticing right now, especially with Democrats, is it's clear that Democrats are in the right with a lot of this stuff, with a lot of the agenda, with a lot of policies. But just because you're in the right doesn't mean that other people understand why, doesn't mean that other people will agree. People have to be told what to do all the time. I mean, from your work to your family,

like everybody has to be given some type of instruction in order to progress anywhere. Messaging for the Democratic Party should be no different. Bottom line is this here, hey, Jamie Harrison, bruh, seriously, I hope you just wipe a whole bunch of these folks out the damn DNC. Because I have never, seriously, bottom line is this here.

There's a thing called building resonance where you have to create momentum, okay? Right now, Kristen Clark, Vanita Gupta, under attack, all right? Where's the external game? Okay? I don't know. Maybe y'all heard. I ain't heard how they've been going to women's groups,

flouting with phone calls and emails, going to numerous women's groups. Republicans go to Concerned Women for America. I'm talking about if I'm sitting here trying to build alliances, and I want to confirm, yo, Lynx, AKs, Deltas, Zetas, Siggy McGammer Row, girlfriends, ladies of distinction,

every female group I can think of, Emily's List, I can go down the line saying flood them, hit them, because what they're doing to women and how they're holding women, exactly what happened to Neera Tanden. And again, you cannot like Neera Tanden all you want to, but the bottom line is this here.

Republicans are attacking women nominees of Biden differently than they are men. And they're attacking the minority nominees differently. Because in today's hearing, it was two women at the table. Vanita and Lisa.

Lisa wasn't getting no heat. Lisa White. Vanita not heat. Lisa White. Vanita not white. She was. All I'm saying is if you're going to fight, fight. So I really hope Jamie Harrison is taking a big-ass brush and firing a whole bunch of these sorry white consultants, and I'm being very specific for a reason. I need Jamie Harrison

to fire a bunch of these sorry, smart-ass white boys who are stealing money in the DNC, who don't know how to fight, who got their heads stuck in their damn iPads, who all went to the

Robbie Mook School of Running Campaigns, okay, who ain't listening to the ground. That's all I'm saying. So if you want to sit here and win, win. But that ad, that's how you defend your women who are under assault. And it's amazing how they can turn them damn ads around, literally, in 24, 48 hours.

But I swear, if I went to the Democrats' Twitter feed right now, I guarantee you I probably wouldn't see a damn video since the election. Let's go to Minnesota. The trial of ex-Minnesota police officer Derek Chauvin resumed today with the jury selection process despite uncertainty over whether a third-degree murder charge would be added. Judge Peter Cahill read the potential jurors several rules they must abide by during and after the selection process. Two jurors have been seated while a handful of others have been excused. Here's Judge Cahill addressing the potential jurors. The charges against the defendant are not evidence, and they create no inference of guilt.

No member of the jury should in any way permit himself or herself to be prejudiced against the defendant because a charge has been made against him or because he has been placed on trial. The defendant is presumed innocent of the charges made against him, and in order for you to find the defendant guilty, the state must prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. The defendant does not have to prove his innocence. The presumption of innocence remains with the defendant throughout the trial unless and until he has been proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt according to the law and the evidence admitted at trial. Proof beyond a reasonable doubt is such proof as ordinarily prudent persons would act upon in their most important affairs. A reasonable doubt is a doubt based upon reason and common sense. It does not mean a fanciful or capricious doubt, nor does it mean beyond all possibility of doubt. Now, if you serve on this jury, you and your fellow jurors will be the sole judges of whether a witness is to be believed and of the weight to be given a witness's testimony. There are no hard and fast rules to guide you in this

respect, but in determining believability and weight of testimony, jurors may take into consideration the witness's interest or lack of interest in the outcome of the case, the relationship to the parties, the ability and opportunity to know, remember and relate the facts, their manner, their age and experience, their frankness and sincerity or the lack thereof, reasonableness or the unreasonableness of their testimony in light of all the other evidence in the case, and any other factors that bear on believability and weight. If on this jury, you should rely on the last analysis upon your own experience, good judgment, and common sense. There are things you should not do even during jury selection. You are not investigators. You are not to go out to do any looking, and you are not to ask people about this matter.

You are not to use the internet to look for information about this case or about the law. Above all, you must not talk to anyone who is involved, the lawyers or the witnesses. Do not be offended if the attorneys, parties or witnesses do not speak to you. They know that it would be improper to contact you except through the normal selection process and they will confine themselves to a brief greeting. Now during the selection process your family and friends will be curious as to what you are doing. You may tell them you are on a panel of potential jurors in a criminal case and that is all you should tell them. And since that is all you should tell family

and friends that is all you should tell the general public. So during these proceedings, please refrain from using Facebook, Twitter, or other social media to announce that you are a potential juror or to comment on this trial. You may access such social media tools, but please do not publish any information about the case or your thoughts about the case. You do not have to stay away from people and refuse to speak to them. Do whatever you wish, but do not talk about the case, and do not talk to anyone involved. Because of the nature of the charges, this case will receive media coverage. Do not read about this case in the newspapers or online,

and do not listen to news about it on radio or television. Now, the first juror chosen said he had not seen the viral video of George Floyd's murder. Of course, that circulated all across the country. So we are live streaming on our Roland Martin Unfiltered platform every single day. And you can watch that. Just simply go to our YouTube channel, our Facebook page, our Periscope page. And we're doing that, so we've been streaming that and other events as well, which is one of the reasons why we certainly want you guys to support what we do

by joining our Bring the Funk fan club, because your dollars make it possible for us to do that, for us to pay our staff to be able to cover these things every single day. You can do so by going to our Cash App, dollar sign RM Unfiltered, also PayPal.me, RMartin Unfiltered, Ven app, dollar sign RMUnfiltered. Also, paypal.me, rmartinunfiltered. Venmo.com is RMUnfiltered. You can also go to Zelle,

roland at rolandsmartin.com or roland at rolandmartinunfiltered.com. And so again, every single day, we're going to be live streaming the trial of Derek Chauvin, on trial for the murder of George Floyd. Let's go to Rochester, where the Rochester Police Accountability Board

released a video showing an officer violently throwing a mother to the ground and pushing her three-year-old after a store accused the mother of theft. The incident comes just two weeks after two of the same Rochester officers were seen on a camera attacking, handcuffing, and pepper spraying a 90-year-old girl. Watch this, y'all. Now folks during a news conference members members of the Rochester Police Accountability Board said the video showed unacceptable conduct by the officers. No kidding, Ben.

Yeah, it's... That's difficult to watch on so many levels, not only because of how the sister was treated, but also the fact that the child was there watching it. And it's just time and again, Roland, we see these videos, and it creates a new trauma in us. sister was treated, but also the fact that the child was there watching it. And it's just time and again, Roland, we see these videos and it creates a new trauma in us. It's a catalog of traumas that black people, we have to live with every single day because this is nothing new.

And if there's going to be any justice, we have to wait and see because so many times with these incidents, they're always finding a way to protect the police officers despite the drama, the trauma that they are causing Black people in real time. Kelly? I couldn't agree more. As far as justice is concerned in this case, hopefully it is swift because my understanding is that two of the officers involved in this incident were also involved in the incident regarding, uh, the nine-year-old who was pepper sprayed. Um, and the same police department is, uh, under investigation regarding, uh, harassment of a ten-year-old from last year.

So there is a litany of issues with this police department. Um, and like I've said on your show before, if you have... If you... I feel like these officers know that they have a racial bias. You have to, because it is clear. And if you do not know, uh, if you do not have the, uh, wherewithal to suppress your racial bias in any job, you should not be in a client-facing job

such as a police officer. These officers knew what they were doing. And they also knew that if that person were white and she were holding a white child, this would not be happening. And it is disgusting to me that still, in 2021, during George Floyd's, uh, murderer's, uh, case is happening right now.

All of these things that could, that should be... persuading people to do the right thing. It feels like there's an uptick in the stupidity of these officers. I'm not saying every officer is stupid. I'm not saying that I'm anti-police. But what I am saying is that I'm anti-racism. I'm anti-stupidity. And what these officers did was stupid, and it was completely against any protocol, uh, that any police department has when it comes to apprehending people. They're wrong, they should be in prison,

and-and that's just the final say I have on that. Mustafa? Well, they shouldn't have been on the street. I mean, they just recently had the other case that Kelly talked about. Um, and besides that, the police officer searched her. Didn't find a thing. didn't find a thing, didn't find a thing, and still continued on with this set of behavior.

So that in itself is wrong. A child is there. A child could very easily, a gun could have went off because you're slamming people on the ground, you falling on the ground, all kinds of situations could play out. Is it really necessary for you to engage in this type of behavior? Especially when the person doesn't have a weapon, the person hasn't done anything with a violent background, and it's a woman. So as a man, are you telling me that you can't hold somebody

or do something else until another female officer comes and then you can continue down? So there's all these different dynamics that are going on. And there's also reporting where one of the officers said, well, make sure the other car is pulled forward so that folks can't videotape what's going on. So why are you worried about people videotaping if you haven't done something that was wrong? So that's one of the reasons why these folks, there are good police officers, and we should support good police officers. But when we have repeated folks

who continue to break their own sets of laws, then that sends a message very clearly that they don't want that job. So they should not be in that job. Ben? Yeah, Roland, this is hard to watch and it's difficult to watch. And, you know, you have to cover this. We cover this kind of stuff every single day and it drives a rage in us that is justified,

right? We are justified in our anger towards the police system, this police state, because they have been unleashed on the black community and they don't give a damn. They don't give a damn about the George Floyd trial, the trial of Derek Chauvin that's happening right now. They are acting out. Like Kelly said, they are acting out above and beyond. They're going above

and beyond. And to do this to a woman with a child, to do this to any human being, this is part and parcel of why we have to confront the police state in this country. A lot of folks don't like to say defund the police, but the people on the street are saying abolish the police because this is what happens every single day in this country

and they expect us to just keep taking it on the chin. And I don't know how much longer people can. And may I add just one more thing? This is the reason why the bill that passed in the House regarding George Floyd is so important, because one of the main components of that bill is a registry for incidents such as this to be recorded, so that if something were to happen in another jurisdiction, they cannot get a job in another jurisdiction. So these officers, should this bill

go in, like, let's just say this bill was in place right now, these officers would be registered in, would be logged into that registry, and they would not be able to get another job. And that's the kind of legislation and policy that we need to perpetuate into this country, because stuff like this can't be happening. so you can be defund the police or not but registries such as that policies such as what's in that bill those need to be implemented asap so stuff like this can never happen again all right folks y'all know what time it is So a lot of folks were mad that I did not spend yesterday any time talking about the Meghan Markle, Prince Harry interview with Oprah. Why?

Because I don't give a damn about the royal family. I really don't. I didn't give a damn about their wedding. I didn't care about Kate and that other. Who is she married to? What's that dude's name? Y'all know. What's that?

Y'all know the dude? Oh, William. That's right. I didn't give a damn about Pippa. I didn't care about none of them, okay? I don't understand why Americans are fascinated with the royal family. I really don't. So it didn't matter to me, okay?

And I know I got sisters sitting talking about, oh, how the sister was treated and the mental. Y'all, here's the whole deal, okay? You could say all that sort of stuff, but don't try to even try to question talking about, do I stand with black women? Because when I had the sister on two weeks ago who got fired by the medical school, You can say all that sort of stuff, but don't try to even try to question talking about do I stand with black women? Because when I had the sister on two weeks ago who got fired by the medical school,

a whole bunch of y'all didn't say nothing. Crickets. Crickets. Yesterday, we had the mama on and the kid who was forced to drink the urine in Plano, Texas. A whole bunch of folks didn't say nothing. Friday,

I'm talking to St. Louis Circuit DA Kim Gardner. I've been standing with that sister since she got elected. So if y'all want to try that nonsense, how, oh, you ain't standing with a black woman, take that BS somewhere else, okay? Let's just be real clear. But I was

absolutely pleased when I saw this video today. They have had an overwhelming amount of negative press. You know,

I watched the program yesterday and yes, they had some great press around the wedding, but what press is going to trash someone's special day? There was bad press around the engagement, before the engagement, and everything that has followed since has been incredibly damaging, quite clearly, to Meghan's mental health and also to Harry. And I hear Piers say that, you know, William has gone through the same thing, but do you know what?

Siblings experience tragedy in their life, and one will be absolutely fine and brush it off, and the other will not be able to deal with it so strongly. And that's clearly what has happened with Prince Harry in this situation. He walked behind his mother's coffin at a tender, tender age in front of the globe. That is going to shape a young boy for the rest of his life.

So I think that we need to all take a step back. And I understand that you don't like Meghan Markle. You've made it so clear a number of times on this programme, a number of times. And I understand that you've got a personal relationship with Meghan Markle or had one and she cut you off. She's entitled to cut you off if she wants to. Has she said anything about you since she cut you off? I don't think she has, but yet you continue to trash her. OK, I'm done with this. No, no, no. Sorry. Do you know what? That's pathetic.

You can trash me, mate, but not my own fault. See you later. Sorry, can't do this. This is absolutely diabolical behaviour. I'm sorry, but Piers spouts off on a regular basis, and we all have to sit there and listen. 6.30 to 7 o'clock yesterday was incredibly hard to watch. Incredibly hard to watch. Oh! If y'all want to see a punk ass, that was Pierce Morgan.

That truly qualified panel for Crazy Ed's White People segment. And I love seeing... I couldn't stand Piers' ass when we were at CNN, OK? It was... To have him replace Larry King really was... I mean, he was awful, OK? He was awful, all right? All he did was kiss Trump's ass left and right. He was on Celebrity Apprentice. So that's why I had nothing but glee

when I saw this drop on Twitter today. Go to my iPad. Statement from ITV. Following discussions with ITV, Pierce Morgan has decided now is the time to leave Good Morning Britain. ITV has accepted this decision and there's nothing further to add.

Walk your punk ass on out the door, Piers. Oh, well. Ben, I was cool. I was like, walk your ass out. Again, just that's it. I'm out. That's it. I'm not taking this. Oh, see, if you are willing to talk trash on TV,

take that ass whooping like a man. But no, Lil Punk Pierce, he ain't want to do that. And he's taking a big risk, Roland, because it's not like he's particularly talented, right? He's a quintessential mediocre white man who just fails up on a regular basis. I'm talking about, if you want to see, look, I think

Piers Morgan is more of a mediocre white man than Tucker Carlson. And that's a whole lot of mediocre white men right there. He's like the spoiled milk of Tucker Carlson, right? And for him to storm off the stage, he can dish it, but he can't take it.

I mean, this was cathartic for me because I didn't want to cover that story either about the princess except for the fact that down with the monarchy, like down with the crown, like I think this is the perfect moment to finish the revolution, but I digress. The point is, if nothing else good came out of it, there's one less mediocre white man on television.

It's a win. I had to watch it happen, Kelly. I was cracking up, laughing, and that's it. I'm done. I'm done. I'm just gonna walk your punk ass. See? See? Again, you can't talk shit

on TV and then get mad when somebody tries to come back. See, that's why I tell people. That's why I ain't scared of none of these folk. That's why Candace Owens, Brandon Tatum, Charlie Kirk, I don't give a damn.

You can line their asses up and I debate them all back to back. I remember when I was at CNN, they had it was, I forgot who, I think it was Wolf. They were going to have me, Bill Bennett, James Carville

and Bill Bennett. No, I'm not doing that. This is unfair. It's three against one. I was like, three against one? What are you talking about? It's three against one. No, I'm not going to do it. They dropped me. I got dropped. So it was Bill

and Carville. I was like, dude, Bill Bennett, you a punk ass. I said, man, let me tell you something. It can be five of y'all and I'm good. Five of y'all against one of me is unfair for y'all. But see, that's how they are. So little punk, little Pierce,

take your little monkey ass on. Now you ain't got the morning shot. So I did tweet the folks at Good Morning Britain. I said, y'all, I'll be happy to fly across the pond and fill in on the morning show if y'all want. Because, you know, they six hours ahead of us. So I can still do my show and then do the morning show as well at the same time. I loved it.

I loved it. I think it was really interesting to me. Like you, I laughed when I saw it. But I did a little digging. And my thing is, he walked off because his co-worker struck a nerve when he was talking about how Megan was no longer talking to him. It's because they went on a date six years ago,

and it just so happens that the car that Piers Morgan got for her to go home, she used it to go to a party that is the night, apparently, she met Prince Harry. So he is upset that he essentially ghosted her, because after that night, he never heard from her again. So the fact that it's been six years of vitriol from Piers Morgan just attacking this woman and her husband and anything associated with her, inviting her enemy, so to speak, onto his show just to attack her some more, and then for his own co-worker

to call him out on all of that within 90 seconds, it was the epitome of poetic justice. Now, to your point about the royal family you're not wanting to cover, that is entirely your prerogative. But I also understand why people were concerned. Um, not just from an American perspective. I can't speak for every American. But the United Kingdom still has

a great amount of control over the Commonwealth. They are the head of the Commonwealth. The Queen is still a head of state. Right, but right. She a head of state. And the fact that the Commonwealth is black and people of color countries, the fact that they're, like,

it's no question that the monarchy has been racist. Like, that wasn't the issue. The issue is that it was revealed. No, but I don't even care. No, deal. My biggest problem is the fascination in this country with the royals. It's irrelevant. Like, literally, it's irrelevant.

We're not discussing rule. We're not discussing policy. No, we're talking about, okay, Meghan and Harry and what they went through. I'm telling you, I didn't care when they got married. I still don't care. That's cute. That's great. That's wonderful. I was kind of like, okay, whatever. I just didn't. So it was kind of like, whatever.

But if this led to Piers Morgan walking his punk ass off the set, oh, yay. Because I appreciate that viral moment, Mustafa. I appreciate it. Well, Piers Morgan's privilege was hurt. It was damaged a long time ago when Meghan was like,

yeah, nah, I'm going to go over here with the prince. So, of course, you know, he was hurt, and he allowed that to manifest all these years later. And when I saw it, all I could think about was that sister who went viral when she said, you about to lose your job. You about to lose your job. You about to lose your job.

That's exactly what I was thinking. You about to lose your job. I'm telling you, I had... Look, Piers Morgan is an absolute mediocre dude. And yet, Pierce, this is for you. Y'all go to my iPad. Where the fuck I at? Naturally, ask anybody who know me.

What you at school for? The fuck are you talking about? Why are you detaining me? You about to lose your job. You about to lose your job. You about to lose your job. Get this dance. You about to lose your job because you are detaining me for nothing. And you're detaining me for nothing.

And you about to lose your job. You ain't even got no job because you're trying. You about to lose your job. You about to lose your job. You about to lose your job. Is this shit worth you losing your job? Because you're about to. Because you ain't got no reason. I could pass any sobriety test. Yes. When somebody, when somebody's trying to detain me, when I, when I don't want to be detained for no goddamn reason. Yeah, that's how the fuck I act.

Naturally. Ask anybody who know me. What you at school for? The fuck are you talking about? Why are you detaining me? You about to lose your job. You about to lose your job. Get this dance.

You about to lose your job because you are detaining me for nothing. That was for Piers. So, again, the little walk up. That's it. I'm through. A mediocre white man, Piers Morgan. You got to love white kids.

And Piers is such a little whine, little punk. He blocked me on Twitter because he couldn't handle the criticism. No, he blocked me like a year or two ago. I'm like, you a punk ass. I'm like, you a punk ass. You know, I'm like, get your weak ass on, Piers. You know, I'm like, matter of fact, Piers,

why don't you go date Bethany Frankel? Why don't you go? Matter of fact, I ain't even, you know, this wasn't even, like I wasn't planning on doing this here. But I ain't realize, I didn't even realize, because when you talked about mediocre, man, oh, I could not help. I didn't realize when Omarosa, because apparently Bethany, she had to apologize because she was like,

you know, she said something about Megan. Again, everybody was all in their feelings. Okay, whatever. But I was like, ooh, you talk about what Omarosa said to her? That was good. Did y'all see that video?

It's one of my favorites. You know what? Let me just go on ahead. Let me just go on ahead and see that video? Yes, sir. It's one of my favorites. You know what? Let me just go ahead. Let me just go ahead and find that video. I just want to just revel in, because since we're talking about, you know, mediocre people who are on TV. Making them big checks that ain't got no talent. Right.

I mean, making big checks. You know, let me just go ahead. Y'all go to my iPad, please. Let's be nice. Y'all go to my iPad, please. Go to my iPad. Thank you very much. Let's roll it.

It's different for you and I. I'm an African-American woman. You get to walk around and be mediocre, and you still get rewarded with things. We have to be... We have to be exceptional to get anything. It's different for you and I I'm an African American woman you get to walk around and be mediocre and you

still get rewarded with things we have to be we have to be exceptional to get anything it's different for you and I I'm an African American woman you get to walk around and be mediocre and you still get rewarded with they don't make it make the same face you know what I gotta see that again y'all that thing again it's different for for you and I I'm an African American woman you get to walk around and be mediocre and you still get rewarded with things we have to be we have to be exceptional to get anything it's different for you and I'm an African American woman you get to walk around and be mediocre and you still get rewarded with things.

We have to be... We have to be exceptional to get anything. Okay, all right. I'm good. I'm good. I'm good. Her face was stuck.

She couldn't say anything. She couldn't say nothing. Because she was right. She was like... Because she was right. Oh, damn.'t say nothing. Because she was right. She was like... Because she was right. Oh, damn. You're right. Because she was right.

And her show ended not long after that interview. She was like, ooh, you're right. You're right. Omarosa came in there and ended that woman's entire existence. She was like, ooh, you're right. You're right. I am mediocre. Ooh, you're right.

You're right. Okay, y'all. So, yeah. No more Good Morning Britain. Sorry. I feel for you. No, I don't. Do you? No, I don't. Do you really? No, I don't.

Martin Sparrow-Rolinson up here lying to that man. You don't feel sorry for him. No, I don't. No, I don't. Because I think you are absolutely a weak-ass man. You're weak. You're absolutely weak. He proved that, though. You're absolutely weak.

And the walk-off, because here's the deal. I ain't never walked off a set. Because, see, when you black, you can't just walk off a set. Right. That's called, you just call it self-firing. Yeah. We can't do that. But again, that's what happens when you're mediocre.

So good morning, Britain. Call it, brother. I'll be happy to walk over my African attire and guest host for a week or two across the pond. Got to go to a break. When we come back, we're going to talk to the owner of a black bread company. That's right.

A black bread company. The's right. A black bread company. The question is, do they bake black bread? That's next on Rolling Mountain Unfiltered. People in public service work hard every day in our communities and we deserve respect for the work we do. That means a secure retirement

with benefits you've earned through years of service and hard work. What's the best way to ensure that when you retire, you'll be ready to enjoy the years ahead? Join a union today. Union members negotiate our contracts, which is why we're more likely to have substantial retirement benefits. A secure retirement. That's the union difference. Your work keeps the community safe, but what keeps you safe at work?

People in public service face unique dangers, and we need the right training, resources, and staffing to stay safe. But how do we make sure we have what we need to stay safe on the job? We join a union. Union members negotiate for the resources we need to keep us safe at work and protections if we're injured on the job. Union members are better trained and better protected. Job safety, that's the union difference. What's up, y'all? I'm Will Packer. Hello, I'm Bishop T.B.J. What up? Lana Wells, and you are watching Rolling Martin Unfiltered. Where's the stinger? Our black business stinger.

Yes, yes, we do. Yes, yes, we have. It's called The Marketplace. Okay, y'all need to find it. Today for our black business segment, folks, we have three men who have actually launched a bread company. They developed the first black-owned gourmet sliced bread company. The creators, Charles Alexander, Mark Edmund, and Jamal Lewis were bread company. The creators, Charles Alexander, Mark Edmund, and Jamal Lewis were best friends in high school. They join me now. Folks, how y'all doing? We're doing good. Great. How are you doing?

So who came up with the idea to say, let's do a bread company? I did. My name is Mark Edmond. I'm the director of sales for the Black Bread Company and I actually had the idea. Where did it come from? Why didn't you just say, yo, I got an idea. Let's do bread. Yeah, no problem.

First and foremost, thank you for having us on your show. A huge fan, so thank you. So my wife, my wife, she actually gave me a grocery list to go shopping. This was during the time of the George Floyd incident. You know, to be honest with you, I was upset. I was, you know, I was pretty angry. And first thing I wanted to do was I was more conscious on spending my money at this point. So I wanted to make sure that my money was going to African-American companies as much as possible.

So the very first thing I did in a parking lot, I made it to my mind, I'm not buying anything on my list that's not black owned. First thing that was on my list was bread. I walked to the bread aisle. I was in this bread aisle for about 35, 45 minutes, literally Googling every single bread brand that was on the shelf. Out of frustration, I left because I didn't find any bread that was African-American owned, not even an executive, right? So in the parking lot, I immediately called my two best friends, Charles and Jamel, and I let them know like, yo, there's no bread company. And immediately, Charles started Googling,

and he was like, man, maybe it's just that store that you're in, and we could not find it. And from there, the Black Bread Company was born. Charles, did you say, hmm, good idea? Yeah, yeah. Yes, sir. Oh, absolutely. Like Mark said, when he called me at first i was like are you sure is it because you know so many bread brands in a you know in a grocery store house in general so i'm

like maybe it's this store so even on the phone i just started googling couldn't find any then we called jamal other best friend and he started the same thing and we made up in our minds very quickly that we have to create it. And Jamal, so when Mark and Charles mentioned this to you, did you say, first of all, do any of y'all bake? Look, by the time it got to me, I considered it a done deal. I always say, with us three being brothers, if they rocking, I'm rolling. So by the time I got on the line with the guys, it was a done deal in my book. I felt we had to do it.

That's what was expressed to me because there wasn't a brand like this. We had to do it. So even when you mentioned our backgrounds in baking, not necessarily, that's not necessarily the lane that we kind of started with that kind of brought us here. It was more so seeing a need, seeing a void for our people being represented in a particular industry, in a particular lane, which is why we went there. And since then, it's been about a year since. But that's when we began to learn the actual industry, the baking industry, and how to get things going. So where are y'all based and how many stores y'all product is in? We're in Chicago, Illinois.

Say it again? We're in Chicago, Illinois. In Chicago. Charles, go ahead. Yeah, we just got in two co-op grocery stores in Chicago. One is called Deal Pickle Food Co-op. The other one is called Sugar Beats Food Co-op.

But Roland, honestly, you know, when we just launched February 1st to commemorate Black History Month, that was important to us. And so we didn't know how big things would get so fast. So we instantly turned to a national company, right? We was like, we're going to start local, Chicago, maybe Midwest. But as soon as we launched, people from all over, East Coast, West Coast, Florida, Cali, wanted Black Bread Company. And so we just instantly turned to a nationwide company. All right. Questions from my panel.

Let me go to first. I'll start with Kelly. What's your question for the Black Bread Company? I'm just curious as to what sets your bread apart aside from it being Black-owned. I'm looking at the website. I see you have two different, I guess it would be called flavors, if you will.

What sets you guys apart? It looks great. Just tell me more about the product itself. Great question. The best answer I can give for what sets us apart is, of course, our bread is fresh. Of course, it's soft. Of course, it's premium quality. But what makes us the most different are the faces that you see in front of us. The fact that from a social standpoint, African-Americans have not been represented in this industry. So we implore anybody out there that is interested in anything concerning that, that we are here for representation.

And that is what makes us stand out the most, that no other company in the world looks like us in this industry. So that's what makes us different. Benjamin, Benjamin, your question. Yeah, from conception to product, I mean, you're talking about nine months. I mean, that's extremely quick and congratulations on your success. How did you make that happen?

Like the structural part, the bakery, the factory, the distribution, how were you able to make that happen so quickly? Well, first thing that we wanted to do was... That's an awesome question. It really is. Go ahead, Charles. Go ahead, Charles. That's a great question, but we buckled down and we got to work.

We started meeting weekly, like not even, you know, just business meetings on Zoom, right? Still during the pandemic, right? Because we started talking about weekly, like not even, you know, just business meetings on Zoom, right? Still doing a pandemic, right? Because we started talking about this like March, April, right? And so we just start, we buckle down, got to business, start doing all the research we could do, find resources when it comes to our packaging, the quality of our bread, the legal aspect of it. We did everything in silence.

We didn't want anyone to know what we're doing because we want to make sure that everything was in place before the public knew about the Black Bread Company. So we buckled down and we focused. And it actually got to the point we had to remind ourselves, like, y'all know we best friends first, right? It's like, let's check in. We're literally godfathers of each other's kids.

Like, we had to check in with each other personally because we were just all business just trying to get it done because we know it's such a huge deal to be first, and we had to make sure it was right. Mustafa, question. Yeah, so there are a number of established companies that are out there. How will you all, let me just rephrase it, where do you see yourself in the next 36 months? Mark? Well, you know what? We see ourselves in every household. We want to be a national brand.

We want to be known. We want to compete. At the end of the day, it is business, and we just want the opportunity to be able to compete. At the end of the day, it is business and we just want the opportunity to be able to compete. You know, we want to be in every grocery store, on every shelf possible, as well as in schools and nursing homes, daycares, prison contracts. You know, we literally want to be a household brand. We want generations to grow up on our bread. And we literally is just looking for people to come behind us just in a different hours period in the grocery industry. Got some questions here. Somebody on YouTube asked, is it gluten-free?

We actually get that a lot. This is not gluten-free yet, but we are working on a recipe now for a gluten-free. Let's see here. Somebody also asked, they asked, do you sell your bread online? We do offer our bread online as well at blackbreadco.com. Blackbreadco.com. Y'all see right there, y'all, blackbreadco.com.

And then let's see here. I thought there was one more question. And, oh, and so you started in Chicago. Are you in other cities, in other stores? As of right now, the only stores that we are in is in Chicago. We do plan on, we're talking to some national chains right now. So hopefully we can get into those stores in the next few weeks

or at least a month or two. So it gives a little time and hopefully we should be in a store near you. Once again, we are asking people to go into these grocery stores. If you do not see our bread there, request it. They can get in contact with us, send us

any type of information on them because we are here to compete. We are not going down without a fight. We're looking to get in every store we want to be represented. We want representation. I appreciate everybody. Thank you. All right then. Gentlemen, certainly congratulations.

Blackbreadco.com. Thanks a lot. Thank you. All right. And again, we appreciate them being on the marketplace. Before I go, I was not going to play this. But you know what? I mean, we were talking about mediocre white people on TV.

I blame you, Ben, for that. Did y'all see this today? Is the pound still there? Up here. Did y'all see this today? I just can't help myself. Roll it. Experiment is the way to go. And if we have two American women, Meghan Markle and Oprah Winfrey, who are single-handedly finishing what George Washington on our revolutionary counterparts did, I'm all for it. Okay.

The American experiment is the way to go. And if we have two American women, Meghan Markle and Oprah Winfrey, who are single-handedly finishing what George Washington on our revolutionary counterparts did, I'm all for it. Okay. The American experiment is the way to go. What? I'm all for it. Okay. The American experiment is the way to go. What? Okay, go back, go back, go back, go back, go back, go back. What George Washington on our revolutionary counterparts did,

I'm all for it. Okay. The American experiment is the way to go. And if we have two American women, Meghan Markle and Oprah Winfrey, who are single-handedly finishing what George Washington on our revolutionary counterparts did, I'm all for it.

Okay. She's the goat. Whoopi, that's what happens when you are Scorpio and your birthday is November 13th. Same day as my brother, I'm November 14th. Mustafa, go ahead. It's real simple.

Whoopi was like, WTF? I mean, what you want? Okay. The reason I love that answer, because Kelly, I literally said the other, like, okay. Like, I'm supposed to give a shit? Like, OK, really? That was just perfect.

That was perfect. My face would be like this, how it is right now, if I were whooping. Like, I'm perplexed. I really am perplexed. The fact that she's really blaming two Black celebrities for the downfall of a 1200 year old monarchy because they helped out a friend

I don't I am absolutely enjoying the petty Ben call me petty all y'all want to but I'm just trying to understand Ben

you act like you don't know we do this. Because when I played the clip, you were like, oh my goodness, I cannot believe he is playing this clip. I cannot believe it. That's because he's enjoying it. Dog, that's, look, look, I mean, hold up. Go back, go back, go back. Okay.

Go ahead, Ben. All right, go ahead, I'm sorry. Here's the pettiest part about it, right? I actually agree with what she's saying. Like, if two black women can bring down the monarchy, oh, my goodness, it's amazing. But how do you say something right and say it in such a repugnant way that Whippy's like, okay, right?

So she manages to say something good. I wish, I wish this could result with the end of the monarchy. It won't. But Meghan McCain is the quintessential mediocre person who only got the job because her daddy was a senator. And she constantly reminds us

over and over and again. So she's making all those millions of dollars every single year to go up there and say the obvious things or just to say something to get everybody's attention. So thank you, Whippy, for being Whippyie just thank you for that moment thank you uh you know what um one more time if we have two american women megan markle and oprah winfrey who are

single-handedly finishing what george washington on our revolutionary counterparts did, I'm all for it. Okay. All right, that's it for us. Okay. If y'all want to support what we do at Roland Martin Unfiltered, please join our Bring the Fuck Fan Club. Go to Cash App, dollar sign RMUnfiltered, PayPal.me forward slash RMartinUnfiltered,

Venmo.com forward slash RMUnfililtered. Zelle at Roland S. Roland at Roland. Roland at Roland S. Martin.com. Every dollar you get goes to support this show. If you give on YouTube, I appreciate that. But we only get 55 cents of every dollar you give. So if you give to us direct, we get all 100% of that.

Mustafa, Kelly, Ben, I certainly appreciate it. Thank you so very much. It has been a fabulous day. I'll see y'all tomorrow. Take us home, Whoopi. Holla! Take us home, Whoopi. Finishing with George Washington on our revolutionary counterparts did, I'm all for it. Okay. I know a lot of cops.

They get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. This is Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. Listen to Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Glott. And this is Season 2 of the War on Drugs podcast. Yes, sir.

Last year, a lot of the problems of the drug war. This year, a lot of the biggest names in music and sports. This kind of starts that a little bit, man. We met them at their homes. We met them at their recording. We met them at their 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 Podcasts,

or wherever you get your podcasts. 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-away, 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.