#RolandMartinUnfiltered - Karmelo Trial Testimony Raises Questions. Elijah McClain Convictions Reversed. Black Jobs Gap.

Episode Date: June 26, 2026

6.5.2026 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: Karmelo Trial Testimony Raises Questions. Elijah McClain Convictions Reversed. Black Jobs Gap._ For free and unbiased Medicare help, dial [phone] to speak with my trusted partner, Chapter, or go to https://askchapter.org/roland *Paid Partnership*_ In the Karmelo Anthony trial, witnesses testified about what they saw just before the fatal stabbing.  Many say that Austin made the first move, but Karmelo is being accused of provoking the situation.  Legal analyst Thelma Anderson will join us to recap today's testimony. A Colorado community is in shock following an appeals court decision that reversed the homicide convictions of two former paramedics who injected Elijah McClain with a lethal dose of ketamine. Four former Alabama State basketball players have been declared permanently ineligible after the NCAA found they participated in a scheme to fix a 2024 game. Orange County, Florida, Mayor and Democratic candidate for governor, Jerry Demings, has suspended his campaign after being diagnosed with prostate cancer. Ohio Congresswoman Shontel Brown lit into Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins about the rising number of farm bankruptcies. And job numbers were released today.  While the black unemployment rate has decreased, it remains twice as high as the white unemployment rate.  Economist Morgan Harper will be joining us to explain these numbers. Black Star Network Partner: ChapterFor free and unbiased Medicare help, dial [phone] to speak with my trusted partner, Chapter, or go to https://askchapter.org/roland *Paid Partnership* Chapter and its affiliates are not connected with or endorsed by any government entity or the federal Medicare program. Chapter Advisory, LLC represents Medicare Advantage HMO, PPO, and PFFS organizations and stand alone prescription drug plans that have a Medicare contract. Enrollment depends on the plan’s contract renewal. While we have a database of every Medicare plan nationwide and can help you to search among all plans, we have contracts with many but not all plans. As a result, we do not offer every plan available in your area. Currently we represent 50 organizations which offer 18,160 products nationwide. We search and recommend all plans, even those we don’t directly offer. You can contact a licensed Chapter agent to find out the number of products available in your specific area. Please contact Medicare.gov, 1-800-Medicare, or your local State Health Insurance Program (SHIP) to get information on all of your options.____Download the Black Star Network app at http://www.blackstarnetwork.com! We're on iOS, AppleTV, Android, AndroidTV, Roku, FireTV, XBox and SamsungTV. The #BlackStarNetwork 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.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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streaming live on work. We will have the latest in the Carmilla Anthony trial taking place in Collin County, Texas, also

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credit, a candidate for governor, Jerry Demings, has suspended that campaign after being diagnosed with prostate cancer. Ohio Congressman Chantel Brown lit into Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins about the rising number of farm bankruptcies and job numbers were released today. The black unemployment rate has decreased, but it is still. High is all get out. Economist Morgan Harper will join us. It is time to bring the funk. I'll roll the button on filter on the Black Stud Network. Let's go. Fourth day of the Carmelo Anthony trial in Texas and before the second day of testimony could even begin. Judge John Roach Jr. had to remove at least three people from the courthouse.

According to local media reports, the woman directed harsh words at a sheriff's deputy. A blogger from North Carolina was removed for allegedly calling a sheriff's deputy a racial slur. And a third person may have been violating court protocols prohibiting cell phone use and recording in the building. The state prosecutor showed the jury of the four-minute video of Carmelo's arrest, which included footage for the body. cameras of Officer Edward Cortez, the school resource officer for the Frisco Police Department. In the video, Carmelo can be heard crying and admitting to stabbing Austin Medcalf, but he claims to the officer, I told him not to put his hands on me. And students who witnessed the incident say it was Austin who shoved Carmelo first,

but it was Carmel's fault. Carmelo maintains that he acted in self-defense. Legal analyst Thelman Anderson has been following the case. Joins us now from Dallas. So, okay, explain that which is quite confusing. That is he tells the officers that he put that Austin touched him first. Students say that Austin shoved Carmelo first, but is Carmelo's fault? Roland, that's ridiculous.

And that's the issue that we're having with the coverage in this particular trial. The law does not state. it becomes the victim's fault of an initial assault because the person pushed them but before they pushed them had words words do not equate to a person having the right to touch you unless the individual may have initiated a threat of your life but that's not the case here that's the contradictory

that we have been experiencing with this particular trial or with this coverage is the foolery of victimizing the individual that had to protect themselves. Well, you know, when you have people, you know, you got white supremacists, Matt Walsh and others. They have been riding this. He goes, Anthony went into a tent where he didn't belong, was told 15 times to leave and refuse,

then pull out a knife and stab someone to death. Not only is he clearly guilty in the self-defense claim with total force, he should be facing the death penalty the first-degree murder. Again, this is the stuff they're throwing out there. But the reality is, was it the other young man who was stabbed and killed? Wasn't Austin told by the coach not to even show up? And that's another confusing issue because, let me just say this,

because they like to say that he was told, a child cannot tell you to move. A child does not have the right or authority to tell you to go anywhere. No coach told Carmelo that he was not allowed to be under the while it was raining. And on that day, there was a tornado watch. So you, Austin, and anyone else that was a child had no authority to tell anyone to leave. But when we are talking about the statements that are being made that said that, oh, the coach told Austin not to be there, It's six, seven right now because they either we know, because I did not hear that testimony for that coach saying that he was not allowed to be there

because there were text messages of this particular coach that was entered that said that he needed Austin to be a leader. So it's real fuzzy on that, on that area. I don't even know if it came out in the trial that he was supposed to be there or he wasn't. Well, and again, it's all of this sort of back and forth. and, you know, what just stands out is this whole idea of Austin approaching him and telling him he needs to go. He doesn't have the authority to tell anyone they need to go. And the question then becomes, did Austin put his hands on Carmelo first?

That's the ultimate question because what they also don't want to talk about is the weight difference. Carmelo is 130 pounds. Austin was 2.30 or a little over 2.30 when he attacked Carmelo. That's 100 pounds heavier. Also, they don't want to talk about Hunter participating, the brother who's alive, the other bully, participating in targeting Carmelo to tell him to leave.

So when you put the body composition of these two big boys, that's over 400-something pounds to an African-American boy. as 130. So when you look at that and then you're telling someone that they have to go, when you have no authority, that is because in their home, they tell them they get to talk to individuals that look of a different color any way that they want to. So they just display what they have been taught. Carmelo displayed respect and he said, put your hand, if you put your hands on me or put your hands on me and see, that's typical. That's to tell you don't touch me. You don't have the authority to touch me.

But when you have individuals that grow up in a household that teach you to treat African Americans like that, because his father is indicative of saying racial slurs, the apple don't fall too far from the tree. All right. Well, we certainly will continue to see what happens in this case. Thelma, we still appreciate it. Thanks a lot. Thank you. All right, folks. We're going to go to the break.

We'll be right back. Roland Unfiltered on the Blackshoddnet. All right, folks. Let me tell you about chapter. Now, if you're in Medicare or about to be, the system is not set up to work for you. Too much fine print, too many plans, and too many people are making money off of your confusion.

And look, we're used to this. We're no strangers to systems that don't have our best interests at heart. But we don't have to accept it when it comes to Medicare. That's why I'm telling you about chapter. Their advisors are independent and honest. In fact, they're the only Medicare advisors that compare every plan nationwide. And they're focused on one thing.

What works for you? If there's a better plan out there, they'll find it. If you're already in the right one, they'll tell you that too. There are no games. Just last year, people who switched with Chapter saved an average of $1,100. It's 20 minutes and a real person. It's completely free. My parents actually have already called.

My mom sent me a text. Folks, give chapter a call at 724-264-8-281, 724-264-264-8-1, and connect with someone you can trust. Folks, these are the kind of services that we need for our audience here at Roland Martin Unfiltered and the Black Star Network. So call chapter right now, 724-264-8-281. This is Bill Duke, and you're watching The Black Star Network. All right, folks, I'm going to bring in my panel to talk about this case, joining us today, Winconi-Chiant, co-founder of Politicking, joining us from D.C. Matt Manning, civil rights attorney at the Corpus Christi, Michael Inhotep, host of the Afrii History Network show out of Detroit. Matt, so in looking at this case, obviously Carmelos defense team is saying that it was self-defense.

prosecutors are saying, well, he's carrying a knife in his backpack. And so they have to establish, you know, terms of with the charging and with that he's guilty of this. So what is the self-defense claim in Texas? Self-defense is appropriate under certain circumstances. The primary being you're in a place where you're allowed to be. So somewhere in the public or your home, like you've heard of the castle, doctrine. And the law basically says that a, the person has a reasonable belief that either deadly force or force is necessary to defend themselves or to defend a third person.

Now, in this particular case, I haven't watched any of the evidence, but I was having a conversation with a colleague yesterday who was asking me what I thought about it. And I told him a couple things that I haven't heard opined yet. The first is the way it works at the end of a trial is you get a jury instruction. So the jury's given paperwork that says, here's how the law works, here's how it applies it. If you believe this, then this. If you don't believe this, then that, right? And the way you get a self-defense instruction, number one, is you show that there's at least a scintilla of evidence that generates the idea this might be self-defense. The reason I think that's a really interesting

academic question in this case is this is a public stadium, from my understanding, and the allegation is that this occurred under a tent that was being privately controlled. But what my colleague and I were talking about yesterday is whether Metcalf and his people, so to speak, could even have a private space at a public venue, right? Because if they can, then there's an argument that Anthony would be trespassing, arguably, right? That's what the prosecutors are going to allege. If they can't have a private space in a public space, then it stands to reason anywhere Carmelo Anthony is. He's able to avail himself of the self-defense instruction. That's a super important issue in this case, just like the case I just tried two weeks ago, self-defense case, and that was the big fight there. Do we get an instruction or not?

So I think that's going to be the important thing here. I think that Thelma was also speaking to an important thing. Reasonableness has looked at from the relative size of the people involved. So if one person is much larger than the other person, it might lend to the idea that the person who used the force was reasonable in their belief that force was necessary. But Texas is a stay in your ground state. So the important thing is if you're somewhere you're allowed to be and you are reasonable in your belief, you don't have to retreat, which is very important. Because that could mean, you know, if you reasonably believe you're being faced with force, even if you're in a public space, you don't have to take a single step back. You can use the force necessary to defend yourself, and then a jury can opine that you were legally justified. And that's really going to be the question in this case.

Well, and also what jumps out here is, okay, so they're under this tent. and prosecutors are saying he was told to leave. Well, first of all, if no adult was telling him to leave, then the question is, who is the right to tell somebody to leave? They said impending weather was coming. You're standing under a tent. Is that for me, Roel? Yes.

Oh, yes. Yeah, I mean, I think that's a very fair question, right? I mean, especially because these are minors. So, you know, do they have to adhere to the instructions of another person to leave? I think being completely fair in the analysis, I think there's also an argument that even if you're in a public space, you can have a privately controlled, you know, spot. Like the example I gave my colleague yesterday is, you know, look, if you go to Cowboy Stadium and you go tailgate and you have a tent, I mean, that's private property, but let's say it's public, right? If it's publicly accessible, I mean, and somebody tries to come into your tent and you use deadly force, every day of the week, you're going to say this is our, you know, area, and this person was not given authority to be here. so we have every right to expel them from that location.

But I think that public-private question is a very important one in this case, because if you're in a public stadium, I don't think you get to cordon off a space of it as being private for you. And actually in that case, I'm sorry, go ahead. But the freezer right there, because even with that particular example, okay, so let's just say, so I'm not going to use Cowboys Stadium. I'm going to say if you're a Texan's game, you're at NRG Stadium, and you're a tailgating,

Well, first, let's say it's my tailgate. Let's just say it's my tailgate. It's my tent. I'm the one doing it. And let's say there's somebody who's there who, you know, was invited. Well, if somebody comes in who's uninvited, the question then goes, does the person who was invited have the right? Close your eyes.

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It's a great question. So, again, so if it's me, if it's my tailgate, and this is just sort of how I'm looking at this here. I'm thinking that if you have a tent and it's the school's tent, the person who actually has the authority to say, yeah, and they, is the coach, or let's say the principal. Not just anybody on the team, you get to decide and you get to tell somebody, hey, you got to get out of here. That to me, I think also, hopefully you would think

that that's going to be a part of this conversation among the jury. Who has the authority to tell somebody they can leave? and then even if someone has Lord tell you to leave, do you have a right to push them, shove them, put your hands on them? I don't think you do, and I think what's really important

about that example is I think if the school is the one that has the tent, then the kids don't get to determine who comes in and or out. But by that same token, I think if somebody had, let's say this wasn't the scenario, but Carmelo Anthony just got a criminal trespass, got arrested for criminal trespass.

I think he'd beat it every day of the week, because the prosecutor would say, you're not really controlling this space, right? That's predicated on the idea that you have the exclusive right of control to the space. And I think that's what you're getting at. I don't think these kids could control it. I do think, you know, maybe he could have been arrested for a breach of the peace or something else, but not anything predicated on the idea that he was trespassing somewhere. And that's really the underlying issue here.

Was he in a place he wasn't allowed to be? But I think that from a legal standpoint, that's really the important question is, you know, was he legally allowed to be there? I think he was. I think if I'm a juror and if I'm the defense lawyer, I'm saying this is a public stadium. You know, kids don't get to decide where other kids don't get to traverse,

and because of that, he gets the self-defense instruction every day of the week. And then all those other things go to the reasonableness and whether it was an appropriate use of force. This is when Coney, the folks at Court TV posted this. Not sure if there's audio on it, guys, so you can turn it up. Carmelo, Anthony. Okay, so I'm just going to play from the beginning.

Listen to this. This is a minor, a witness that was sitting under the Memorial High pop-up tent with his team near the victim, Austin Metcalf. The suspect, Carmelo Anthony, was from Centennial High, was sitting under the Memorial High tent. Austin told Carmelo that he needed to move out from under their team's tent. Carmelo grabbed his bag, opened it, reached inside, and proceeded to tell Austin, quote, touch me and see what happens. No one really thought Carmelo really had any weapons in his bag, and Austin proceeded to touch Carmelo.

Then Carmelo told Austin to punch him and see what happens. A short time later, Austin grabbed Carmelo to tell him to move, and Carmelo pulled out what a witness recalled as a black knife and stabbed Austin once in the chest and then ran away. Let's talk about what that statement means. All sitting on the bleachers under a memorial high tent when another male he did not know walked over and sat under the tent. That would be Carmelo Anthony.

Austin told this male that since he didn't go to Memorial, he had to leave the tent. Austin and the male went back and forth. Then Austin stood up and pushed the mail to get him out of the tent. During the time of the arguing, the male was reaching around in the bag that he had. It was at this time that the male took out the knife and stabbed Austin and then left the scene. They're substantially the same, Mark, in terms of what they are saying? There are a few differences. But what's your take on whether or not from those witnesses?

freeze that right there. And when, when, this is all, you know, all the back and forth. And at the end of the day, who's the aggressor?

Even based upon those witnesses, Austin was the aggressor in this case. Yeah, I think he was, Roland, and I think the sad part about this is that I think if roles were reversed,

we would be having a totally different conversation. I think for those who don't know the races of Carmelo and Austin, I will let you guess, but I think there's something really nefarious about feeling like there's an ownership or control over a tent or a piece of land that doesn't actually belong to you or anyone, right?

That's number one. Number two, I think starting with physical aggression is also inappropriate. Now, whether or not the actions that followed after were appropriate, I mean, I'd argue that they weren't, but I think the bigger question and the legal question is, was it in self-defense or was it not? And I think if someone pushes you first, you do have the argument of self-defense. The bigger challenge that I'm struggling with, Roland, is the fact that despite the 589 prospective jurors, they couldn't find one black juror to be selected in the murder trial.

I mean, I don't know about you all, but to me, that's diabolical. I think that really, again, it's reflective of the state of this country. I mean, you're telling me that there's not one black person that was fit to serve on that trial because they're saying it's not a racially charged trial, but we all know that it is. And so the concerning thing to me is, is Carmelo Anthony going to actually get a fair trial? And I'll let y'all be the judge of that. Michael? All right, Roland.

So I saw your coverage yesterday, excellent coverage, excellent analysis from attorney Thelma. And I appreciate this coverage because we're not getting this in mainstream media. One of the things that Thelma brought out yesterday, if I heard her correctly, was that Carmelho was surrounded by four teens and was did four teams that assaulted him. I know it was Austin Metcalfe that pushed him, but it sounded like she said he was actually being assaulted by four people as opposed to just one. Did I hear that correctly yesterday, Roe?

Well, it's so you have, you have different, differing accounts. For instance, you have the folks who testified today said that there were several who were around there. And so that's the whole point. I mean, remember, you had a number of athletes who were under this one. tent. So when you say surround, well, if you're under a tent, you're sort of all in this all area. Okay. Well, we know he was outnumbered and also looking at the coverage from local media, because I looked at some news coverage from local media. Austin outweighed Carmelo by

83 pounds, according to one local news account as well. So it so far, this sounds like, like this was self-defense. And it was also brought out that Carmelo only stabbed him one time, and he was the only person that Carmel was stabbed as well. So it didn't appear like there was some type of revenge that Carmela was trying to get. He's trying to attack multiple people. He was defending himself against the person who pushed him. And as he came out in court today from witnesses, Austin did.

push Carmelo first. So we'll see how this turns out. But the other thing, quickly, I was reading the analysis dealing with the three black female educators that were struck from the jury pool. And it was said that the prosecutors were saying that they were struck because the fatal incident took place at a school-sponsored athletic function involving school-age children and they didn't want teachers on the jury. Now, my thing would be, okay, would you want a coach on the jury? Say it was a white male coach. Would you let the white male coach on the jury?

That sounds like a reach to me. I'm sorry. I'm not an attorney. That sounds like a reach to me. Well, these are things that we often see in these cases. And Matt, again, the prosecutor said, oh, no, that they had other reasons why they struck three teachers who were all black from being a black. jury. Can I speak to that real quick? Yeah. Yeah. So, you know, to keep it really short, ironically,

most defense lawyers, me included, don't generally like teachers on juries because teachers usually have no issue punishing. So I'm surprised they said they didn't want teachers on that jury. On that jury, I just tried a case a couple weeks ago. I had a teacher on there, and I was leery about her being on there for that very reason. But the other thing I wanted to explain very quickly is, yes, per se, not having black people on the jury does make you question the veracity of the jury, especially if they find somebody guilty. That's what happened in my scenario. We didn't have any black people who made it on the jury. But the thing people need to know is, well, the jury selection, you don't pick the people on the jury. You pick the people you want to get rid of and you get

left with whoever's left from the jury. So it creates a problem when you have a county that doesn't have a lot of black people who are going to be on the jury panel to begin with. Now, of course, There are prosecutors who historically have, you know, used racial reasons to get rid of black people. There's no question with that. But even in my own case, I only had four people on a panel of 100, and it shook out such that the challenges for cause and peremptory challenges made it where we didn't end up with a black person on the jury. And as much as I hate that, part of that is how the process works. So it is often nefarious, but it's often just a numbers situation. And I can't speak to what that is here.

but I know Collin County is, I think north of Dallas, correct me from. Yep, it is. I don't think it's a very, there's not a big black population. Nope, is real white. May just be numbers, which is why you move to, you choose to try to move the venue or you do something else where you try to give him a fighting chance somewhere else. Absolutely. So, folks, we're going to keep looking after this here. All right, let's go to break.

We come back. We're going to talk about the conviction, a two former white paramedics in Colorado over. return of the death of a young black man, that and other stories. Coming up next, Rolla Martin on the Filtern on the Black Studd Network, don't forget, support the work that we do, join our Brain to Funk fan club. Goals get 20,000 people on every year who contribute at least 50 bucks each a year. Those four dollars $0.19 a month, 13 cents a day to support this show and the other shows here on the network.

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Folks, give Chapter a call at 724, 264-8-181, 724-264-8-8-1, and connect with someone you can trust. Folks, these are the kind of services that we need for our audience here at Roland Martin Unfiltered and the Black Star Network. So call chapter right now, 724-264-8-21. Hi, I'm Swain Cash, Basketball Hall of Famer, and you're watching Black Star Network. According to today's Bureau of Labor Statistics Job Report, 172,000 jobs were created in the month of May, well above the 88,000 that economists expected. The overall unemployment rate remains the same at 4.3%.

Unemployment dropped from 7.3% in April to 6.6%. That's black unemployment. Black unemployment dropped, okay? Which is still almost double that of the white rate. However, the unemployment for black men dropped to 6%. And for black women, the unemployment rate dropped to 5.6%. Morgan Harper, the Director of Policy and Advocacy of the American Economic Liberties Product joins us right now. Morgan, glad to have you here.

Well, look at that number, it's 6.6. Now you're talking that was April of 2000, April of this year. Go to my iPad. This was April 2023 when black unemployment was 4.8%. So it's just factual. since Donald Trump has been back in the White House, he has been awful for black people and when it comes to unemployment.

Let's see here. Morgan, can you double check if you're muted on your end? I can't hear you. All right, you're still muted. Nope, can't hear you. All right, so let's do this here. Y'all figure out Morgan's audio

and then let me know so we could talk about the jobs numbers. I'm going to go to this other story, then come back. So y'all let me know when y'all got the audio. your straight folks. Let's talk about the story out of Colorado. Remember this particular story where two paramedics were convicted for their role in the death of Elijah McLean. Well,

those convictions have now been overturned. He was, of course, he died in 2019. And there was a case that everybody was following on Thursday. The Colorado Code of Appeals reversed the 2003 homicide convictions of two paramedics. Peter Succaneak and Jeremy Cooper, the appeals court agreed with Cooper's argument that the district court erred in refusing to clarify the standard of care applicable to the charge of criminally negligent homicide after the jury indicated they were unsure of the standard to apply and request it a definition. The Chenehack's conviction of second-degree assault by unlawful administration of drugs remains in place. He was sentenced to four years probation in September, 2004. Cooper was a question.

acquitted of the second-degree assault charge in 2023. The 23-year-old unarmed black man died after Aurora police placed him in a neckhold, and Cooper administered an excessive amount of the sedative ketamine. The Triniak was supervising Cooper at the time of the injection. Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser said this about the ruling, a jury convicted two paramedics for the death of Elijah McLean, an innocent black man who did nothing wrong that tragic night seven years ago. Bringing these cases to trial was the right thing to do for justice for Elijah McLean

and for healing in the Aurora community. The Attorney General's office is committed to defending these convictions through the appeals process. Justice demands it. Community activists held a news conference to voice their outrage over the appeals court decision. We say liberty and justice for all. And our pledge of allegiance to this country, we say liberty and justice for all.

What this system told us yesterday was liberty and justice for all except Elijah McLean and anyone that looks like him. So I'm going to challenge us as a society. Maybe we should take that line out of our pledge of allegiance. Because the black community knows that that is not true. Those who want to uphold these systems that harm us know that isn't true. Everybody in between knows that that is not true. Pride is like love. You feel it in your heart.

IR. Radio. Canada's number one streaming app for radio and podcasts, including IHart Pride Canada, your favorite hits and must have party bangers, plus personalized and curated playlists. Like back in the day pride. Come together, celebrate love. Take pride with you anytime, anywhere. Just ask your smart speaker to play IHart Pride Canada.

Canada, stream us on your phone or listen now at iHeartRadio.ca. Hey, I'm Hoda Kotby, host of the podcast, Joy 101 with Hoda Kotbby. Okay, if you know me, you know this. I'm always searching for inspiration, for support, and useful tools to help maximize joy. So this podcast lets us uncover all of that together. We're going to have these meaningful conversations with the world's most fascinating people, Like when actress Olivia Munn shared how she overcame fierce health challenges that she never saw coming. I've gone through breast cancer and then helped my mother through breast cancer, and that was more difficult.

There's a lot of people who understand postpartner depression. I was not prepared for postpartum anxiety. Olympic champ Sean Johnson revealed why she had no choice but to be a gymnast. There was something about gymnastics that was intoxicating to me. It's given me a belief that we all have one of those treasures inside of us. We just have to find it. Listen to Joy 101 with Hoda Kotby on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A decade ago, the ethanol kingpin of Iowa became the king of corn in Brazil.

So we met with a lot of larger farmers, went from Bahia to Tokitines to Montagrosso. And he brought a team of executives. They were going to help the country get in on a gold rush. Carbon and its derivatives are going to be really the next great commodity that the globe's going to trade. But back home in Iowa, trouble was brewing. If you live in Iowa, your land, your water, and your voice could all be at risk thanks to a man named Bruce Rastetter. Now, people are questioning if his climate solutions have anything to do with climate at all. You got to give Bruce and the guy's credit.

They're Republican kids. They don't give a shit about it. On this season of drilled, Carbon Cowboys, the story of how the ethanol kingpin of Iowa became the king of corn in Brazil. and what it tells us about the limits of technology and markets to solve the climate crisis. Listen on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, this is Chuck from Stuff You Should Know, and we're submitting our most sciencey episodes for your peer review with our new stuff you should know doing science playlist.

Out now. You want to know about Occam's Razor? Simplest explanation is usually the right one? We got you covered. Wondered what chaos theory is ever since the first time you saw Jurassic Park. Well, come on down. So distill a nice pot of tea, everybody, turn down the gas on your Bunsen burner, and slip into your most comfortable lab coat and listen to the stuff you should know doing science playlist on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. From daily news to dating fails, conspiracy theories to cooking with celebrities who can't actually cook, Amazon Music's got the most ad-free top podcasts ready to entertain, included with Prime.

stop saying liberty and justice for all. Yesterday was the product of a plague system. All of us what Pellet court is thrusting us back into. The night Elijah Baclaine was murdered, he went to the store and decided to walk home. He was just simply going to come home. He was tackled. He was tortured. And to ensure that he would not.

survived the night, he was injected with ketamine. If you heard any part of that trial, or sat through any part of that trial, you know that Elijah was begging for his life himself. Sorry, words. It was clear that those men knew exactly what they were doing. If you listen closely to that body cam footage, you will also hear Elijah moaning at the end of his life and you will hear a police officer sneeze and another officer says, God bless you.

While he's moaning for his life, someone sneezes and someone offers a God bless you. In connection with McLean's death, three former Aurora police officers were also charged. Randy Rodema was found guilty of cruelly negligent homicide and third degree assault, while Jason Rosenblent and Nathan Woodyard were acquitted of all charges.

So we'll see, of course, what happens next with this case, as Colorado looks to appeal this decision. Folks, we're seeing betting take place all across sports. You watch a sports broadcast every single day, football, basketball, you name, and all you see are all of these different betting commercials and ads and apps and things along those lines. you got lots of these podcasts being sponsored by betting companies. Well, it's no shock.

It's going to have an impact what happens on the court. The NCAA is permanently banned for former Alabama State University student athletes. Due to their involvement in betting, the individuals are identified as Amar Knox, Sean Fulcher, Corey Hines, and Tony Metlock. They engage in game manipulation regarding the outcome of the December 5th, 2024 game between Alabama State and Southern Mississippi. According to the NCAA, the four players received a total of $2,000 from two known betters to deliberately throw the game.

The players accepted the offer and received payment. The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania has indicted the two betters involving this scheme on charges of wire fraud and bribery related to gambling on sports contest. The scheme in Alabama State was uncovered after one of the players, Heinz transferred to Temple University. He informed the NCAA's enforcement staff that he had been contacted by the FBI, which showed him text messages regarding a sporting integrity issue from his time at Alabama State.

When interviewed, players lied to the NCAA. They lied involved in here. And when Cooney, no one should be shocked. The reality, same thing. Terry Rozier. One of the NBA players indicted the arbitrator rule that he has to return most of his $26.6 million salary. this year and he was indicted for allegedly taking

$100,000 regarding a bet on the game. First of all, I would just say those aren't good odds to lose $26 million for $100,000 pride. Allegedly. Let me, hold on. Allegedly.

Right. I mean, Roland, I mean, I think what it boils down to, like you said, is like this explosion of sports betting, right? And people have done it so commonly now. I think people don't really stop to think of the implications of this. I think one, it talks about what the NCNN-N-CAA's challenges are in terms of this is what happens when you're not necessarily paying players, right, is that players are going to find other ways to get paid. So I think it really causes us to take a wider

look at what that means and what it means for these three young men who are now ineligible for life, right, to play ball and probably have wrecked their careers in future. So I think it really begs the larger question on like if sports betting is going to be considered legal or illegal moving forward and what the implications are on it I think regardless one thing that we do know is that if you're an athlete you certainly can't engage in fixing games or else this will be the outcome um you know I really do hate watching games these days uh Michael and all you're seeing are just I mean my God just over and over again just like damn commercials um now I Now, what you have going on also is you take this player, Brendan Sourspeen.

He was a quarterback at Indiana, made about 40 different bets while he was a quarterback. He transferred the Texas Tech. He's been ruled ineligible, and now he's suing. And so he may, first of all, not be able to play. Now, there's a difference between making bets, making bets and then throwing a game. That's different. But we're seeing this here. Now he was apparently,

this is ESPN story. SORZZZE was being diagnosed with a gambling and anxiety disorder and recently completed a 35-day stint in Arizona Gambling Rehabilitation Center, according to his attorneys. He said it became a habit for me to bet. Soresey wrote in a statement to the NCAA by betting became a compulsion, which made it virtually impossible to resist the constant notifications I received from betting apps.

I lost complete control of my addiction. I now realize the apps control me and I did not control them. But people have to understand is that, first of all, betting on games, that's different than throwing a game. It's also different than what Terry Rozier, Chauncey Billups, and others, Damon Jones. They were also indicted because they were invited, indicted by being involved in an illegal gambling ring. But it all speaks to what happens when gambling is allowed in sports. And again, you have gambling companies that are now sponsors of sports leagues, NBA, NFL. Yeah, Roland, this is just sliding down the hill of greed and corruption.

Okay. And, you know, when you talked about this story, Chansy Billups came to mind. I live in Detroit. Chonsie Billups is a hero here. Detroit Pistons. Pistons won a championship with, which. Chauncey Billups. And when that scandal broke that you just mentioned, that gambling ring, Jamel Hill, the sports journalist Jamel Hill, I saw her on one of the shows, and she was

talking about how in sports, there's a culture of gambling. They'll gamble in their hotel rooms. They'll play cars. There's a culture of gambling. So the sports betting, the apps, the All of this, this is an extension of this. And, you know, these brothers have to be in athletes, regardless of race. These athletes really have to be centered where you don't throw away your life for $2,000, $3,000, $4,000. You know, I can understand coming from poverty, wanting to, needing to make money, things of this nature. But you have to be able to think beyond that moment. And, you know, if you don't learn anything from Pete Rose,

Okay, how he destroyed his legacy. All right. Charlie Hustle, I remember when I used to follow baseball when I was a kid, you know, Pete Rose was a hero. Pete, Pete Rose destroyed his legacy because of betting on games and allegedly, for my understanding, games that he was involved in. Okay, so, you know, this is, this is sad to hear, but the leagues need to crack down on this. Yeah, but guess what? It's a ton of money being thrown their way. And, you know, it used to be a time, Matt, where, I mean,

leagues just avoided Las Vegas. They're like, we ain't playing there, ain't going to be no teams there. Well, guess what? The Raiders moved from Oakland. They got a WNBA franchise. The Oakland Athletics has now moved there as well. Now there's talk that Las Vegas is going to get an NBA franchise, but gambling was opened up.

You know, it used to be just Nevada in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Now it's all nationwide. And I'm telling you right now, get used to it. There are going to be more stories like this of bettors placing, you know, convincing a college student. Hey, and the way the thing is to now is not even just throwing a game now. Remember the brother of Michael Porter Jr. got thrown out of the NBA for life, where now they bet on how many points you score, how many rebounds you'll get,

how many minutes you'll play, and they're very diligent in tracking these things. And so, you know, we're going to see more examples of this in the future now that gambling is just all involved in sports, Matt. Yeah, we sure are. But, I mean, look, I think it's also a matter of personal integrity. I know people don't want to have that conversation,

but, you know, I don't have an issue with gambling being, But if you're gambling on games you're involved in or gambling in some way against the rules, you're making a choice to do that. And I think that's, frankly, what is at issue here. I do think we as a society are intellectually dishonest with gambling, especially in the state of Texas. The state of Texas will allow you to play the lottery, but they'll still charge you for keeping a gambling place.

I just got a gambling case dismissed a couple weeks ago because our county can give you a license. But if you have a private game room, it's somehow illegal. I mean, we need to resolve the legal issue. But in this instance, you know, look, if you're an athlete, you shouldn't be involved in gambling at all. You know what's going to happen. But I will tell you. I think the problem is DOJ doesn't seem to have the same, you know, eagle eye on insider trading in Congress, right?

Nope. I mean, that's where they need to be cocking down, you know, cracking down. And I think that shows you how our justice system can also be just completely disproportionate in how it responds to things. We're indicting athletes, but we have a pretty good reason to believe somebody at 1600, Pennsylvania is cooking the books and making a slush fun for his friends, and DOJ isn't doing anything about that. So, you know, skip me with the moral outrage, but I also think if you're an athlete,

it is per se dangerous to be involved in any kind of betting for this exact reason. Indeed, indeed. All right, y'all, going to a break, we'll be right back. Hopefully we'll get Morgan's audio straight, and we'll also talk about what's happening in Florida. If a governor is suspending the campaign. You're watching Roller Mark Unfiltered on the Black Star Network. All right, folks, let me tell you about chapter.

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So call chapter right now, 724-264-8-281. With medicine and science under attack, I want to keep you and your family informed and healthy. I'm Dr. Ebony Hilton, and I knew at the end up. age of eight that I wanted to be a doctor. So I studied hard and became the first African-American female anesthesiologist hired at the Medical University of South Carolina since this opening in 1824. And I always say I was made into a doctor, but I was born to be a mom. And as a new mom, wife, sister, daughter, and friend, I understand how frightening and medical crisis can be. I care for individuals on some of the worst days of their lives. And it's my mission to provide you with a safe space

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Don't miss it Thursdays only on the Black Star Network. If in this country right now, you have people get up in the morning and the only thing they can think about is how many people they can hurt and they've got the power, that's the time for mourning. For better or worse, what makes America special, it's that legal system that's supposed to protect minorities from the tier. of the majority. We are at a point of a moral emergency. We must raise a voice of outrage.

We must raise a voice of compassion. And we must raise a voice of unity. We are not in a crisis of party versus party. We are in a crisis of civilization, a human rights crisis, and a crisis of democracy itself. And guess what? You've been chosen to make sure that those that would destroy, those that would hate, don't have the final say, and they don't ultimately win. How you doing it? I'm Mark Curry, and you're watching the Black Star Network.

That's why I got these glasses on because that black star is bright. All right, folks, welcome back. Let's talk about these job numbers. Let's bring Morgan Harper back. Hopefully, Morgan, was there with the audio? Can you hear me? There we go. Now we got you. All right. So let's talk about this here. Take two. White House was all excited. They were just going, yay, yay, yay, yay. Because finally some good news.

But it's not like it's completely great news when it comes to these numbers. No, and we've been getting used to this story. I mean, they're definitely doing whatever they can to paint a rosy picture. But like we've talked about in prior months, Roland, I mean, you look beneath the hood and there's a much more complicated story. So I'm going to point out a couple of things. I mean, one, this long-term unemployment, folks that are actively looking for a job but can't find one, continues to increase. There's now two million Americans that fit in that category. That's up by over 500,000 from this time last year. So that's a pretty significant jump.

The other thing that I would note is, again, like the types of jobs that are leading to that top-line number that the White House wants to really trump it and make such a deal about. It continues to be health care, hospitality, leisure type jobs, which, you know, don't necessarily pay the most, aren't necessarily permanent. And then also I'm going to point to one of the interesting things from this month about jobs that were lost, that impacts a lot of working class, middle class Americans in the airline industry, which we're not used to seeing in that Spirit Airlines. That went away. And this is another thing we've been talking about. It's kind of like the influence of Wall Street. Why did Spirit go away? Spirit went away. because their hedge fund creditors through their bankruptcy process

didn't want to receive any financial support that would have kept them afloat and kept all of the people that work for Spirit Airlines in those jobs. So we could have a whole other conversation about that, but that's just an interesting thing that's coming out in this data. The other area of growth is local government. And I think this is interesting because, you know, the whole American economy is kind of built,

and not just economy, like our society is built under this premise of like, free market, let it get to work, Wall Street, all of this. And when you have the local government as one of the top three industries that's creating jobs in your economy, it's like, well, what are we getting from this free market private sector? And is it worth all of those sacrifices that are being made entrusting in the private sector to create all of those jobs? Interesting question, not a conversation that the Trump administration is likely to start. The other thing that I think is really important to continue to note is that wages are not keeping up with the overall inflation and how costs are. increasing. This month, this past month's data also shows that, you know, wages are only growing about 3.4% from a year earlier, whereas inflation is rising like 3.8%. And so again, you know,

and folks, I'm sure feeling this, yeah, okay, you're making money. Yeah, you have a job, but just how far that's going in the economy for the purchases that you have to cover for your family, gas, et cetera, it's not necessarily keeping up. And so, you know, it's a close your eyes and you can hear the entire world come alive 2026 FIFA World Cup is on

and you can stream it all live on TSN Radio from the opening kickoff to the final celebration every match, every moment listen to FIFA World Cup on TSN Radio is Canada to the liftoff

available on IHeart Radio and Hey, I'm Hoda Kotby, host of the podcast, Joy 101 with Hoda Kotby. Okay, if you know me, you know this. I'm always searching for inspiration, for support, and useful tools to help maximize joy. So this podcast lets us uncover all of that together. We're going to have these meaningful conversations with the world's most fascinating people, like when actress Olivia Munn shared how she overcame fierce health challenges that she never saw coming.

I've gone through breast cancer and then helped my mother through breast cancer, and that was more difficult. There's a lot of people who understand postpartum depression. I was not prepared for postpartum anxiety. Olympic champ Sean Johnson revealed why she had no choice but to be a gymnast. There was something about gymnastics that was intoxicating to me. It's given me a belief that we all have one of those treasures inside of us. We just have to find it. Listen to Joy 101 with Hoda Kotby on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. A decade ago, the ethanol kingpin of Iowa became the king of corn in Brazil. So we met with a lot of larger farmers, went from Bahia to Tokatines to Madagroso.

And he brought a team of executives. They were going to help the country get in on a gold rush. Carbon and its derivatives are going to be really the next great commodity that the globe's going to trade. But back home in Iowa, trouble was brewing. If you live in Iowa, your land, your water, and your voice, could all be at risk thanks to a man named Bruce Rastetter. Now, people are questioning if his climate solutions have anything to do with climate at all. You got to give Bruce of the guy's credit.

They're Republican kids. They don't give a shit of money. On this season of drilled, Carbon Cowboys, the story of how the ethanol kingpin of Iowa became the king of corn in Brazil and what it tells us about the limits of technology and markets to solve the climate crisis. Listen on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you. you get your podcasts. Hey, this is Chuck from Stuff You Should Know, and we're submitting our most sciencey episodes for your peer review with our new stuff you should know doing science

playlist. Out now. You want to know about Occam's Razor? Simplest explanation is usually the right one? We got you covered. Wondered what chaos theory is ever since the first time you saw Jurassic Park. Well, come on down. So distill a nice pot of tea, everybody. Turn down the gas on your Bunsen burner and slip into your most comfortable lab coat and listen to the stuff you should know doing science playlist on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. From daily news to dating fails, conspiracy theories to cooking with celebrities who can't actually cook, Amazon Music's got the most ad-free top podcasts ready to entertain, included with Prime. A much more complex picture. The last thing I would note before turning back to you,

Roland, is that's unique about this month, is we got some more data or more of this anecdotal. data. You don't just have to take our word for it or what we're hearing from our friends. The federal government and the Federal Reserve in this case released what's called the beige book. And this includes some of that like qualitative, those anecdotal, just stories that the Federal Reserve bank system is hearing from people that are in each of their districts. So this could be like consumer group, people who are in community development, you know, different businesses themselves that are that are painting a picture of what's going on in the economy. And that information too. And again, this is official information.

that is being released by the federal government and, you know, the Trump administration in theory, that's not necessarily what they want to cover, is telling this picture that folks that with a lot of money are continuing to spend, but those with less money are pulling back. So not that they're not participating in the economy at all, middle class people, you know, still going out to get something to eat, but maybe not going to get as much when they go out, maybe still going on vacation, but shortening the amount of time that they're planning to go on vacation because of how much things have gotten more expensive. And then similarly, you know, in the labor market, they're hearing actually from a construction contact in Cleveland was saying, you know,

employees are very stressed. They don't feel like they can leave the job they're in. They don't feel like they're going to be able to get another job if they were to make some other, some kind of change in their employment status. And then just overall, the impact, speaking of the administration, of the war, the Iran war, and all of the conflict in the Middle East and how that's impacting pricing. And you're hearing from contacts in almost every district that it's leading to something that we don't necessarily think about every day, like fertilizer prices that are going up and spiking, that then are getting passed on in the form of higher food costs eventually

for us that are experiencing things in the economy as a consumer. So, again, overall, just a much, much, much more complex picture than what the administration is saying, and it continues to show a lot of vulnerability when you start to drill down in the day-to-day experiences we're all having as we're trying to make our way through this administration's mismanagement of the economy. Well, we know they're going to lie. I mean, they're going to lie. In fact, Donald Trump was straight lying yesterday when he was asked about black unemployment. Listen to this.

Okay, guys, I tell you earlier, to pull that clip. So just for giving the clip yesterday of Trump talking about black unemployment, they were in the overall office. The Greo asked him this question. I'm going to come back to it. This is, we talked about the numbers of unemployment rate, black unemployment rate 6.6% of April, 26. Go to my iPad. this was the number in April, 23. It was at 4.8%. When we talk about unemployment, the reality is that the lowest unemployment among African-Americans

took place under President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris. Yet Donald Trump still acts as if him and his supporters are still trying to hold on to the number in his first term, but it went lower under Biden-Harris. And so I don't know what the hell

they keep trying to talk about, like he has just been so great for black people economically. Yeah, I think I saw some of the coverage of the Greo question. And yeah, I mean, he's saying he's doing everything to support black jobs. But again, we do not have to take anything that he's saying for his word. We can go to the data. It is a fact that there are a lot of black folks throughout this country that have been employed very securely and with good benefits by the federal government.

That has been one of the primary targets of this administration's policies is to eliminate those jobs. So any claim that you are supporting black employment, black financial stability is absolute nonsense coming out of this administration. It is just not true. That is not an opinion. That is fact. And again, even if you're making some claim about the jobs that are being created, and like we were just discussing, what industries are in health care, leisure, hospitality, comparing those types of jobs to the types of benefits that would be in security, that would be coming from federal jobs, there is no comparison. So, yeah, I agree, Roland.

I think it's not surprising by any means. And as we get deeper into 2026, there are elections that that administration is going to have to, or they're going to be motivated by to get any narrative out that feels like it's supporting their success to get their people elected. But we have to continue to come back to the numbers. We don't have to imagine what's going on out there. We're seeing it for ourselves and what the data is showing us and the stories that we're all experiencing day to day. Yep, there'll be more lying.

All right. Do we have the clip? Let's roll it. On jobs, tomorrow the jobs report will be released. While the unemployment rate has been steady at 4.3%. The black unemployment rate has been 7.3%. When you ran for president, you courted black voters and talked about what you described as black jobs. How do you describe why this disparity is happening?

What can you do to close that? Well, we're doing very well with the black jobs, African-American jobs. we're doing, I saw some numbers that we're doing really well. But where we're really going to do well is when all these plants are open. You know, we're building many car plants. We're bringing cars back from Germany. We're bringing, you know, we lost the car industry years ago. 54% of the industry went to Germany, Japan, Canada, Mexico.

It's all coming back. It's amazing. And where your black worker is really going to do well is when those factories open. So I think they're going to be great. We've been doing very well. It's been a big focus for me. Yeah, please. Morgan, what the hell is he talking about?

I mean, first of all, oh, my God, we lost some manufacturing. Okay, one, that's a lie. Because if anybody who understands what's been happening is those same foreign manufacturers were opening plants in the country. His tariffs actually shut a lot of that down. The attacks on ice, the attacks on the folks. We saw what happened to the Hyundai plant in Georgia. So what the hell you're talking about?

And it's like, oh, yeah, once these manufacturing jobs come back, yeah, oh, black people, y'all going to be good. Got it. Yeah, it's a wonderful imaginary land that he's building for himself, I guess. Yeah, I mean, look, the reality is, you know, that disparity between black unemployment and the general unemployment rate was at its narrowest during the Biden administration. That is true. And we have no indications from this current administration set of policies that they are. are bringing manufacturing back. And again, that's not just my opinion.

Look at the numbers. It's not happening. And to your point, Roland, a lot of the decisions that are being made now, nothing suggests that they're going to be changing the trajectory anytime soon, right? So, yeah, I think it's actually only, they've created a lot more uncertainty in the environment. They've created a lot more barriers to investment happening in the U.S. And I don't know that anyone out there is expecting some kind of huge jobs boom as a result. and especially not a jobs boom that's going to specifically support our community.

In a moment, I'm going to play this clip. Niger Ennis was on Laura Ingram, and he was just touting how amazing things are in America, as if they actually happen under Trump. And I've got to get your thoughts on that. We'll go to my panel first, though, with questions. Let's see here. Wincuny you first. So, first of all, thank you for that breakdown.

And I think what I'm curious about is this black job statement in terms of factory jobs. First off, we know that black and brown people don't only work at factories. But what I wanted to know is, are those types of factory or automotive jobs at risk because of the recent boom of AI? I mean, how realistic are those jobs in continuing to proliferate in the future, knowing what we know about the advent of AI and how a lot of these factory jobs are going to be replaced in the next few years? Yeah, I think it's a great question. And good to see you. And I think it's a great question. I mean, the reality is we kind of don't know yet exactly how all the AI technology is going to play out in the economy. And this is a really live discussion, but it does seem like, yes, even if we have more factories that are opening, even if we have, you know, more companies that are investing in manufacturing, they are likely to be putting more of the resources towards automation within those factories. And they will just not be creating the same level of jobs that they, might have even a couple of decades ago. And so, you know, even thinking of that as some kind of long-term strategy for supporting

the middle class and creating more stability for the middle class seems a little bit short-sighted. And I think that's why we are starting to see these proposals. I don't know if, you know, everybody saw it this week and over the last couple of weeks, like, you know, when Bernie Sanders came out with a proposal about AI and creating a sovereign wealth fund for American citizens related to AI to be able to capture. some of the financial gains, like the government taking equity stakes in the largest AI companies. I'm not saying that's a good or a bad idea, but it's kind of interesting that that's where

we're at in that conversation, that we have senators that are suggesting taking these equity stakes. Elizabeth Warren was talking about a tax on AI that then would be able to, then that revenue would be able to be used to support different kinds of programs for families like child care and health care, given that there are likely to be these types of, um, to the labor market. And so I don't think anybody has the exact answers here, but this is another one of the risks in having an administration that is so deeply unsurious about understanding problems, let alone solving them, because we have a lot of change that's happening right now. And it does

seem, you know, when we're talking about AI, that these really big companies and now, you know, are going to be going public, they have a lot of power over how the administration is thinking about policy with related to this technology, and then ultimately over the entire economy because of how much Wall Street, the stock market is weighted in their direction. Absolutely. Michael? Okay, Morgan. And first of all, it takes between 18 months to 60 months, a year and a half to five years to

build a car factory. So I guess Trump is talking about jobs coming after he leaves office, if he leaves office. I tell someone from the Grillo. I told someone from Detroit to know all the details on that. I was going to go ahead. I warned people in 2015-2016 about Trump when I was on the radio here in Detroit. I warned them. The piece from the griot.com today that talks about how even though the black unemployment rate drop is not as good as Trump makes it seen,

talked about the labor force participation rate. And it was, it's not that more jobs were created. that black people got is that more black people stop looking for jobs. That's what brought it down to 6.6%. 6.6%. Can you talk about that because that would get lost in the headline news post that we see? Yeah, I think you've identified, you know, another one of these, the risks in these aggregate statistics is it's not telling the full story. So that's absolutely right. I mean, the way that unemployment is calculated does, it is taking into account people who are looking for jobs. Once you stop looking for a job, then you're not included in that data.

And then it can create this almost like inflated sense of a positive picture, right? Because the number is going down, but that doesn't mean that things are getting better. And similar to what I said earlier in kind of the overview and the breakdown, and even within that number of how we're looking at who is looking for employment, we're starting to see more people that are looking longer. And so, yes, maybe the overall number is going down, but among that set of people who are still unemployed, they've been unemployed for a minute.

and maybe like several months. And so, again, yeah, it's a much more complicated picture. We have to continue to have these breakdown so we understand what's going on. And we aren't seeing any movement from the administration to really, again, be honest about what these numbers. They have no incentive, actually, to be honest, given all the political implications of how badly the economy is going for a lot of us, a lot of regular people. And so as long as we have an understanding of it, get that information out, it's going to be very important in the coming months ahead, too. Matt? All right.

Hi, Morgan. It's always a pleasure to see you and to learn from me. I have two quick questions. The first is what is the effect, the practical effect of there being an increase in local government hiring? What does that mean in terms of the health of the economy and just any insights you can provide there? And then secondly, what is the interplay with these numbers that we're seeing in the bond yields? My understanding is that would mean that private, you know, lenders are less likely to lend because now that they don't have the same competitive edge with the government, but if you could explain what those

things mean, I'd really appreciate it. Yeah, you know, the local government one, I don't know that I have an exact answer on any of that, but I flagged it because I do find it kind of interesting that it's among, you know, again, like the top three market areas, if you want to call it that, that are leading to some of this job growth. But as we know, I mean, the local government, government isn't what most of us think of as a market, right? I mean, these are usually jobs that are created to provide services for us and citizens and wherever we're living. Now, like we talked about, the federal government, which is also one of the sectors that's calculated in these statistics has been going down, down. So to see local governments that are starting to have an uptick,

I don't know that I know exactly what to make of that. But like I said earlier, I mean, I think does undermine one of the core premise in American society is that, like, burn, baby, burn, let the market go, let the free market rule, and private sector is going to work for us and trickle down and, you know, good times will just come. And it's like, well, is that true when we have an economy where most of the jobs are being created leisure, hospitality, health care, and then local government? And also, who, what sector has been? under attack based on a lot of policies from the White House and also state governments. I mean, you know, I'm in Ohio. We have a state government that has drastically tried to reduce

investment in local government. And so, again, I don't know exactly what's going on there, but I do think it's a sign that we do not have an economy that's creating jobs in industries that will be meaningfully building up a lot of folks' financial position or suggest that America is going to be a leader in future innovation and manufacturing and, you know, different sectors like that. And then, you know, in getting to the bond piece of it, and I do think, you know, just in like we're looking at, you know, bonds from the federal government, that, okay, yes, if some of these top line stats are suggesting some positivity, but there is this much more complicated picture of what's going on in the American economy and no reason to be that optimistic about what's coming, well, then

we are going to have to start giving people a lot more money to end up. invest in the U.S. and continue to fund our government and a lot of the activity coming out of the federal government. So, yeah, it's interesting. I think this is one we have to continue to watch. I'm going to definitely try to learn more about it, but I just found that stat a bit, a bit curious. And, and again, not necessarily to me a signal that all is well with us right now. All right. So Laura Ingram invited Niger in us to her show. And he said, some of the most insane stuff, and I ripped them last night. And I just had to play it again for you, Morgan, as an economist.

Listen to this fool. The sharp contrast here, Ali Velshi, focus on America's, I guess, irredeemable sins, if you don't have reparations, to this idea that in this country, anything's possible. Anything's possible. If you play by the rules and you work hard and you have a positive attitude.

I mean, the sky's the limit. Absolutely, and I'm so pleased that you had Bob Woodson, rest in peace on. He was a great hero. And he and people like my father, people like Ellen Keyes, Justice Thomas, so many others had an indomitable faith in our country, the American people, their fellow Americans, and the Constitution. You know, Laura, you know, people can disparage you and I as being, you know, leaning to the right so they wouldn't believe our statistics. Well, if you don't believe us, go to the liberal, black liberal think tank, the Joint Center for Economic and Policy Research that in 2024, and I want to get this right, so I'm going to read it literally from their study.

This is the first lines of their study. Black Americans are experiencing the most positive economic condition in generations. Record low unemployment rates, record low poverty, rates with record high income levels and new heights of wealth. That is from the Joint Center, which is a black liberal thing tank. And, you know, Laura, look, if you look across the line, not just economically, politically, politically. Let me just give you a little snapshot. You know Mississippi, and we know the racist past of Mississippi, it was the epicenter of political violence, of lynchings, of real voter suppression,

not the phony voter suppression that they talk about today, but real voter suppression back in the 60s, 50s, and before. Well, today, Laura, is going to shock you. You're going to be knocked off your seat. You know, the state that has the most black election. elected officials in the country. I'm sitting there listening here, run these numbers down, and

none of that happened under Trump. None of that. And our economy for black people has gotten, and the entire economy has absolutely gotten worse since that 2020 report. Yeah, it seems like

I mean, we can't save everybody, right? I don't know what he's talking. I don't even have a trust me, he would be one of the ones Harriet would not save. We gotta leave something behind. What can I say? I mean, I just sat there and I was like, dude, come on. I mean, just stop it.

All right, Morgan. Always a pleasure. I appreciate it. Thanks a lot. Good to see you, Roland. All right, y'all. I've got to go to a break. We'll be right back.

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So call chapter right now, 724-264-8-281. Welcome to the other side of change, only on the Black Star Network and hosted by myself, Rea Baker, and my good sis, Jamir Burley. We are just two millennial women tackling everything at the intersection of politics, gender, and pop culture. And we don't just settle for commentary. This is about solution-driven dialogue to get us to the world. world as it could be and not just as it is. Watch us on the Black Star Network, so tune in to the other side of change. I'm Ryan Wilson, CEO co-founder of The Gathering Spot, and you're watching Roland Martin

Unfiltered on the Black Star Network. The House Agriculture Committee had a hearing, and man, did Ohio Congresswoman Shantelle Brown go in on Brooke Rawlins' Trump's inept and incompetent agriculture secretary? Watch this. Secretary Rollins. Over the last year, this administration has repeatedly said that we are entering a golden age, a golden age of American agriculture. Well, frankly, that would come as news to the farmers and ranchers I talked to in Ohio and around the country

because the only thing that is truly golden right now is the price of fertilizer while farm country and rural America struggle. Farmers are facing trade wars and real wars, rising input costs and shrinking export markets, cuts at USDA, and tightening margins, all because of policy choices made by this administration. For many producers, the question isn't how much they're making. It's whether they'll make it through another season. So you all can call this the golden age if you want, but the numbers tell a different story, and so do the farmers living it every day.

So, Madam Secretary, yes or no, are you aware that the farm bankruptcies increased by 46% last year, according to the American Farm Bureau? Out of 1.77 million farms. Reclaiming my time into yes or no. And are you aware that USDA's own estimates show that farm income fell roughly $25 billion following the implementation of tariffs? Yes or no? That was based on the years before when we lost our export markets. reclaiming my time. Are you aware that according to a recent Farm Bureau survey, six out of ten farmers report that their financial situation is getting worse?

These are simple yes or nos. We have opened the market. Reclaiming my time. These are facts, Secretary Rollins. So this is what a golden age of agriculture looks like. Because if rising bankruptcies, falling farm income and worsening financial conditions are a sign of a golden age, I hate to see what a downturn looks like.

There's no doubt there are challenges. This is my time, Secretary Rallis. This is my time, Mr. Chairman, point of order. And on the trade front, the President, Secretary Rallens, this is my time.

I know, but could we ask it in a genteel? Mr. Chairman, point of order. In a dignified manner? You'll be dignified and I'll be dignified. Because this is my time. And when I ask a question, if it's a yes or no, I expect a yes or no answer. This is why the American people don't like Congress. I'm so happy to have a gentle conversation about this.

And on the trade front, the president recently defended his Beijing bailout, supporting Chinese ownership of U.S. farmland by stating, and I quote, you want to see farm prices drop, you want to see farmers lose a lot of money, just take that out of the market. Another easy yes or no question. Madam. Close your eyes. And you can hear the entire. entire world, come alive.

2026 FIFA World Cup is on, and you can stream it all live on TSN Radio. From the opening kickoff to the final celebration, every match, every moment. Listen to FIFA World Cup on TSN Radio. Gives Canada to the Lift Off! Available on IHeart Radio. Hey, I'm Hoda Kotby, host of the podcast, Joy 101 with Hoda Kotb. Okay, if you know me, you know this. I'm always searching for inspiration, for support, and useful tools to help maximize joy.

So this podcast lets us uncover all of that together. We're going to have these meaningful conversations with the world's most fascinating people. Like when actress Olivia Munn shared how she overcame fierce health challenges that she never saw coming. I've gone through breast cancer and then helped my mother through breast cancer, and that was more difficult. There's a lot of people who understand postpartum depression. I was not prepared for postpartum anxiety. Olympic champ Sean Johnson revealed why she had no choice but to be a gymnast. There was something about gymnastics that was intoxicating to me.

It's given me a belief that we all have one of those treasures inside of us. We just have to find it. Listen to Joy 101 with Hoda Kotby on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A decade ago, the ethanol kingpin of Iowa became. the King of Corn in Brazil. So we met with a lot of larger farmers, went from Bahia to Tokitans to Madagroso. And he brought a team of executives.

They were going to help the country get in on a gold rush. Carbon and its derivatives are going to be really the next great commodity that the globe's going to trade. But back home in Iowa, trouble was brewing. If you live in Iowa, your land, your water, and your voice could all be at risk thanks to a man named Bruce Rastetter. Now, people are questioning. if his climate solutions have anything to do with climate at all.

You got to give Bruce of the guy's credit. They're Republicans. They don't give a shit of money. It's now. On this season of drilled, Carbon Cowboys, the story of how the ethanol kingpin of Iowa became the king of corn in Brazil and what it tells us about the limits of technology and markets to solve the climate crisis. Listen on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever. you get your podcasts. From daily news to dating fails, conspiracy theories to cooking with celebrities who can't actually cook, Amazon Music's got the most ad-free top podcasts ready to entertain, included with Prime. Secretary, do you agree with the president that China should own our farmland? China is a massive threat to America.

The president has recognized this over and over again. We have to protect American farmland. Thank you. Madam Secretary, I'd like to turn to another example where I think there is a significant gap between the story this administration is telling and the reality Americans are experiencing. Recently, you described it as good news that roughly 4.5 million people have been quoted, moved off SNAP. Now, if those families were leaving SNAP because of wages were rising and people no longer needed assistance, I think we'd all celebrate that. But that's not what's happening. The reality is that 4.5 million people were kicked off the program to pay for tax cuts for the wealthy through HR1. That's not true.

Families and children are not leaving the SNAP program because they're doing better. They're being forced off because of eligibility changes, new administrative barriers, and states preparing for the enormous cough shifts that they know is coming. And you know this. So I'm really struggling to understand why you think pulling the rug out from under children, seniors, veterans, and families that have fallen on hard times. Good news. Can you explain why Americans should view losing access to food assistance as good news when grocery prices remain high and food insecurity continues to affect families across this country? Yes, ma'am. I would love to explain. Thank you. So SNAP increased 40% under the last administration. The amount of fraud, as I mentioned in the red states, 200,000 dead people. Reclaiming my time. I mean, this is really part of a disturbing pattern here.

Farm bankruptcies are at a record high, but the president is saying that it's a golden age. Madam Secretary, millions of Americans are going hungry, and you're saying it's a success story. The administration keeps pointing to numbers. It wants Americans to see, but families, farmers, and rural communities are living with consequences of the numbers you don't want to talk about. I really, really hope you can get your facts straight before January of next year. We have more exports. We have everything is in better shape. I just don't think you want more people to work.

I think that you want more people on government programs and not working. It's remarkable. Do you mean government programs like billions more to bail out farmers? That's really what we're talking about here, Matt. We talk about this administration. And then for her to say, oh, well, the farm, bankruptcies, it's such a small amount. Tell it to the people who are actually filing for bankruptcy and losing their family farms and their family businesses. Look, we've done this for decades in America.

Farm subsidies are not welfare. A black woman with multiple children is welfare, right? Walmart getting tax abatements is not welfare, but people getting snap benefits is welfare. Yes, you're 100% right. And I still don't understand. Maybe I'm just a novice when it comes politics. I don't understand why the Trump administration is allowing this policy to affect what tends to be, you know, a group of people that has been in lockstep with them. I think last week, one of the stories we were going to talk about was farmers, basically, who have voted for Trump trying to one off the effect of the policies. But I mean, right now, if you look in Texas, James Tala Rico is giving statements talking about some of the most iconic Texas restaurants,

you know, barbecue restaurants are having trouble staying open because the price of beef is so high. But farmers, you know, bankruptcies, they can't afford John Deere's anymore. They can't afford equipment. The cost of equipment and repairs is skyrocketed. Many of those people are struggling with the cognitive dissonance of I've supported Trump for two terms, but Trump's policies are absolutely affecting my bottom line and my ability to subsist. So I tell you all that to say, I'm really surprised they're not taking a smarter attack on

that because if you want continuity for the party and the people in power and all that once Trump is gone, you would think that you would be doing things that right now would help what is historically one of the biggest parts of your base. They don't seem to be doing that. And I think taking a very glib tack talking about, oh, it's only one XYZ percent is a really horrible, horrible position because at the beginning of this administration, one of the things you showed on this very show was Iowa farmers screaming at Chuck Grassley. You remember that meeting? I was there with Chuck Grassley, and they shouted him down. And they were like, you guys said you were going to do X, you haven't done that.

Basically, we feel like you lied to us. That is going to compound. It's going to metastasize, and I think that's going to turn into a bigger political problem than the Republicans are betting on, and I don't understand why they're taking the positions they are. Well, I'll be honest with a Cooney. I think they're taking the position because, frankly, those farmers were stupid enough to vote for him again and again. I mean, these farmers got screwed his first time. He destroyed the soybean market.

his tears destroyed life for farmers. And you know what? They came right back. In fact, I was reading one story and these farmers were saying, you know, well, I sure hope this thing gets better, but by the end of his term, I'm like, what the hell is wrong with y'all?

It ain't going to get better. And that's what they're admitting, you know what? We just got dumb folks who keep voting for us. So what the hell? We're just going to keep doing it, and they're going to keep sucking up to them and saying, let me get my red,

Maga hat. I mean, it's sad when people just continue to pay attention or not pay attention to the fact that, like Matt said, the Trump administration is ripping their businesses apart. It's ripping their businesses apart with rising production costs. We see the increased tariffs on steel, aluminum, foreign imports. These are what's driving the cost of the machinery up. We see slumping export because these retaliatory tariffs from countries like China and Canada have choked off access to international markets, so farmers can't get their exports out of the country. We see issues with biofuel and energy practices. The administration continues to support traditional energy over biofuels, which, again, no good for the farmer.

And then you have insufficient aid and intervention because the administration's blowing up things like government bailouts and economic assistance. So really, this is a cesspool for all farmers, and instead of pulling themselves out, they've decided to, to continue to cling on to the ankles of Donald Trump, and we see how that's served them. This was a piece from the American presidency University of California in Santa Barbara. This was dated January 31st, 2022. And it said, under-president Biden, American farmer incomes are approaching record levels, net farm incomes in 2021 forecast 116.8 billion, the highest level since the all-time high in 2013 that happened to also be under President Barack Obama.

The thing, his was crazy. So I was reading this story, Michael, and his one farmer said, well, I had a lot more money in my pocket under Biden. And I'm like, but did your dumb ass vote for Kamala Harris? See, that's the whole deal. They're simply voting against their own economic interest. And I'm sorry. So a lot of these farmers start whining and complaining,

I really don't want to hear them because you voted for your own demise. Absolutely, Roland. And we've been saying this since Trump got back in office. And a lot of these farmers, I've seen interviews with them, and they can't believe that Donald Trump lied to them. And it makes me believe that you don't understand what a con man is. A con is short for confidence. A con man is one who lies and wins your confidence so that they can rip you off, so that they can run game on you. is exactly what's happening. And, you know, because of USAID being cut, right, a $40 billion from USAID cut because of Doge, there was $1 billion in contracts that farmers lost, okay? And you have farmers, the other thing is you have farmers who got contracts dealing with,

from the Biden and Harris administration dealing with climate change and all different types of things like this, right? They didn't vote for Kamala Harris, okay? They voted for the guy who said climate change is a hoax. And then those contracts get wiped out. So we saw videos by farmers talking about they didn't get paid from the government and things of this nature. We tried to tell you, okay?

At this point, I don't know what to tell these farmers, except I have voted for Donald Trump by 13 points in 2024. he played you for a fool again. So this is what happens, you know. Yep, I'm like, this is what happens when you're stupid. I'm like, this was on y'all. All right, folks, in Florida today, Orange County, Florida, Mayor Jared Demingz announced he's suspending his gubernatorial campaign for Florida governor

after being diagnosed with prostate cancer. He, of course, husband of former congresswoman Val Demings, he was surrounded today by family when he made the announcement. Let me just say this. About my run for governor. Today, I'm going to be very transparent with all of you here. I've had to make some decisions here recently about running for governor. My family, they can come up and join because Monday of this week, I received some bad news from my doctor who confirmed that, you know, I have prostate cancer.

And because of that, I am going to suspend my campaign for governor. I'm going to focus on my health that will become the priority. I'm only sharing this because I'm in this very visible public position. I'm sharing about a private matter. I intend to continue running through the finish line as the mayor of Orange County. It's about six months from today. but in order for me to receive the treatment that I need, I'm going to have to come off the campaign trail.

I have to let something go. I can't continue to do my job as mayor, take care of my family, and run for governor. So I made a difficult decision. All those people who have supported me are in this run, who have believed in me, as I have run for governor, I say thank you to all of them. My campaign was evolving to the point where we really could win the campaign.

But if I have to come off the campaign trail so that I can still do my job, still do go to treatment, I got to let something go. So we have been prayerful about the decision that I made. I just told my children yesterday. I was told Monday. And so fortunate for me, because I'm relatively healthy, I go to the doctor on a regular basis.

One in six men will get prostate cancer. With African-American men, it's even worse, about one and four. And so don't have a history of it in my family, but because I have continued to go to the doctor, take all my various tests, I've gone through everything that they needed to do to verify what it is.

And so that's the bad news. but I'm going to focus now on my health. I'm going to focus on living. I'm not going to focus on running for another office. So that's the news I've shared with you today. I realize that it's somewhat breaking news all over the state of Florida, perhaps in other places in the nation. But I had a wonderful career, 45-year career,

where I have given 100% during that time. I have not been home during hurricanes, other emergencies. I've been out serving the people. My prayer was that I would continue to serve at a different level.

But if I don't take care of my own health, I won't serve anybody. I won't serve my family. So thank you all. I'm not going to take any questions on that at this time, but what I say to all of you may pray for me. Pray for America. We will continue to support your children. America has got some challenges. Pray for America. Thank you all so much. Thank you. Certainly a tough announcement by Mary Jerry Demings and so prayers for him and his family.

And of course, the message to every brother out there, go to the doctor and make sure that you get checked for prostate cancer. Folks, it's time for Blackstone Network headlines of Brittany Noble. A South Carolina family is still trying to understand how a jury could acquit the man who shot their son in the back. Former gas station owner, Rick Cho, was found not guilty in the 23 shooting death of 14-year-old Cyrus Carmack Belton, a black teen. The jury believed that Cho was defending the son, Andy,

when they chased Cyrus after Cyrus was wrongly accused of stealing bottled water. Now, prosecutors said that Cyrus was running away when he was shot in the back and maintained there was no credible evidence that he had threatened anyone with a weapon. Cyrus's parents are speaking out about the jury's disappointing decision. And the California dog owner is charged with murder in the beating and stabbing death of a black man on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. 55-year-old Patrick Perry was charged with murder for his alleged role.

and a group attack that ended 37-year-old Barry Henderson's life. Police say that Henderson was waiting for a bus when he was attacked by Perry's dog, which he then stabbed in self-defense. Perry and three other men chased Henderson across the street and attacked and beat him with a metal bat. When Henderson dropped the knife he used on the dog, Perry stabbed him with it. Henderson's family is demanding justice. And Bruce Fuller, Jr., Saul Hernandez, and Robert Garcia, they have also been charged in Henderson's death.

And the Black Alabama man will be executed, even though his jury voted seven to five against the death penalty. In 2000, the judge presiding over a Jeffrey Lee's trial rejected the jury's recommendation that Lee be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole in order that he be put to death. Alabama is one of a few states, where a judge has the option of overruling the jurors. On May 28th, the U.S. District Court judge, Emily Marks, rejected Lee's latest legal appeal, concluding that he had not successfully argued

that his execution would amount to cruel and unusual punishment. And earlier today, a federal district court denied Lee's appeal and his execution date scheduled for June 11th remains. Well, after six years, some cities are now planning to resurrect statues of Christopher Columbus and Confederate figures. Traditionalist groups have been pressuring local governments

through lawsuits and lobbying campaigns, despite objections from black community leaders. Trump has ordered a replica of Baltimore's removed statue of Columbus to be installed on the White House grounds to show his support of putting the statues back. And McKenzie Scott is on track to become the largest donor to historically

black colleges and universities, in history. Since signing the giving pledge following her 2019 divorce from Amazon founder, Jeff Bezos, Scott has donated more than $1.34 billion to HBCUs and organizations that support them. In March, she donated $42 million to Elizabeth City State University during the school's Founders Day convocation. That donation pushed Scott's total HBCU giving past the billion dollar mark and expanded her to reach to more than 60 black colleges and universities nationwide. Some of her largest gifts include $80 million to Howard University, $63 million to Morgan State University, and $50 million each to Bowie State University and Norfolk State University.

Unlike major donors, Scott places no restrictions on how schools can spend the money, allowing institutions to invest in scholarships, campus improvement, and student success programs. Well, Spelman College has a new president. The Board of Trustees of Spelland College selected Dr. Ianna Howard as their 12th president. She joins the institution from Ohio State University, where she served as Dean of the College of Engineering. Her career spans multiple fields in technology and artificial intelligence. One of her achievements includes her service at NASA. jet propulsion laboratory.

Now, she plans to continue expanding access to STEM education and creating numerous opportunities for new generations of black students. Dr. Howard will begin her duty as president on August 1st. All right, Brittany, thanks a bunch of folks. Don't forget check out the breakdown of Britney Noble every day, noon Eastern right here on the Black Star Network. Noon Eastern, the breakdown, Britney Noble,

noon Eastern on the Black Star Network. All right, y'all, a couple of blocks from here. Donald Trump has totally destroyed. the White House preparing for this UFC fight. I don't know what the hell it is. I don't watch that crap anyway. On June 14th, literally he is destroying the White House lawn. They are erecting this huge stage,

and he actually wants to leave it up. He tried to actually compare it to the Eiffel Tower. Dude, you must be on meth. And so they are putting this whole thing up. And so apparently one of the UFC, what's wrong, Matt? Yeah, it's trying. It's a trash. It's what is it's trash.

So one of the fighters, one of the USC champions, Sean Strickland, apparently is not invited because he's been critical of Israel. And actually he put out a quite hilarious video, quote, apologizing for his comments. Well, there was another particular fighter who, Bryce Mitchell, who was asked about it, He said this. I'm going to, I'm an economics major. I love studying politics on the political side of things, not the UFC's business. That is, of course they're going to say yes to it, but what I think personally is that our government is desecrating its role in society by entertaining sports.

Our government is to protect and serve the people and really should be as minimal as possible. And when you're doing all of this stuff hosting sporting events, it's really outside of what the goal of the government was intended to be because our tax dollars and resources are funding this operation. And like I said, I'm not criticizing the UFC. I love Dana. I love Hunter. I love Sean. Mick. I love all of them.

And it's an amazing thing. It's a once-in-a-lifetime thing. but the government should never be hosting sporting events because there's more room for corruption and we already have a corrupted government. And so that's my thoughts on it. Is that the government is supposed to protect us, not entertain us? No lies told there, Matt. No, I'm very impressed, actually, because I think that is put perfectly.

I mean, obviously we know there's so much corruption, there's so many poor decisions. decisions being made. There's so many self-enrichment things going on. But I think this is important, and I think what's interesting about this is I always think this, like the cognitive dissonance that exist in people who for decades have talked about government, small government, all that. And they're just in lockstep now with the government invading people's private lives and not only invading things, mandating how things need to happen, you know, basically blurring the lines between church the separation of state. I mean, what's supposed to be the bedrock of our government,

those things are all being blurred. So I can appreciate how he said this. And I think he was very succinct, but very correct and direct, which is the government is not to entertain. It's supposed to provide services. So you're doing UFC at the White House. That's like per se, not your job.

And it's also a waste of our taxpayer dollars. But we know that's Trump and his brand of branding, is he wants to act like he's a prize fight promoter or something, Don King. And that's not how it works. It's supposed to be the president. You're supposed to provide services and that's it. It's just ridiculous what he's doing to the White House lawn, what he's doing.

I mean, and the problem is he's a brute. He's a dictator. His whole deal is I can do whatever I want, Wincuny. The hell with President Candy, I'm going to stick my name on the Kennedy Center. I'm just going to tear down the East Wing. I don't need approval. I don't care what y'all have to say. I'm going to build a 250-foot arch, whatever.

I mean, he's just, and again, what he's doing, I mean, they actually, argue in federal court. They actually argue this is federal court, Winconi, that even federal judges can't tell them what to do, even if they know they're doing something illegal. They even argue that Trump has the authority to tear the statute of liberty down if he wants to. That's how nuts these people are. It's actually sick, Roland. And let's call this what it is. Trump is throwing himself his 80th birthday party. This is his birthday party. This is his birthday party. I don't see that America 250 happens to coincide with his 80th birthday party on the 14th of June. Like, I mean, this is, this is a scheme, right?

And he continues to do these things, but he's not really doing a good job of hiding them. And, you know, he's a type of person who likes to do these really grand gestures with, with $60 million of the American people's money, by the way. And so we have to really be concerned about this because while he's using $60 million to himself a grand prize-fighting birthday party. This money could really be put back. Canadian women are looking for more. More out of themselves, their businesses, their elected leaders, and the world are out of them.

And that's why we're thrilled to introduce the Honest Talk podcast. I'm Jennifer Stewart. And I'm Catherine Clark. And in this podcast, we interview Canada's most inspiring women. Entrepreneurs, artists, athletes, politicians, and newsmakers, all at different stages of their journey. So if you're looking to connect, then we hope you'll join. Listen to the Honest Talk podcast on IHeartRadio or wherever you listen to your podcasts.

Hey, I'm Hoda Kotby, host of the podcast, Joy 101 with Hoda Kotby. Okay, if you know me, you know this. I'm always searching for inspiration, for support, and useful tools to help maximize joy. So this podcast lets us uncover all of that together. We're going to have these meaningful conversations with the world's most fascinating people, Like when actress Olivia Munn shared how she overcame fierce health challenges that she never saw coming. I've gone through breast cancer and then helped my mother through breast cancer, and that was more difficult. There's a lot of people who understand postpartum depression.

I was not prepared for postpartum anxiety. Olympic champ Sean Johnson revealed why she had no choice but to be a gymnast. There was something about gymnastics that was intoxicating to me. It's given me a belief that we all have one of those treasures inside of us. We just have to find it. Listen to Joy 101 with Hoda Kotby on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A decade ago, the ethanol kingpin of Iowa became the king of corn in Brazil. So we met with a lot of larger farmers, went from Bahia to Tokitines to Montagrosso.

And he brought a team of executives. They were going to help the country get in on a gold rush. Carbon and its derivatives are going to be really the next great commodity that the globe's going to trade. But back home in Iowa, trouble was brewing. If you live in Iowa, your land, your water, and your voice could all be at risk thanks to a man named Bruce Rastetter. Now, people are questioning if his climate solutions have anything to do with climate at all. You got to give Bruce and the guy's credit. They're Republican kids.

They don't give a shit about it. On this season of drilled, Carbon Cowboys, the story of how the ethanol kingpin of Iowa became the king of corn in Brazil. and what it tells us about the limits of technology and markets to solve the climate crisis. Listen on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, this is Chuck from Stuff You Should Know, and we're submitting our most sciencey episodes for your peer review with our new stuff you should know doing science playlist. Out now.

You want to know about Occam's Razor? Simplest explanation is usually the right one? We got you covered. Wondered what chaos theory is ever since the first time you saw Jurassic Park. Well, come on down. So distill a nice pot of tea, everybody, turn down the gas on your bunsen burner, and slip into your most comfortable lab coat and listen to the stuff you should know doing science playlist on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. From daily news to dating fails, conspiracy theories to cooking with celebrities who can't actually cook, Amazon Music's got the most ad-free top podcasts ready to entertain, included with Prime.

to the American people's pockets to subsidize these gas prices that are continuing to go up and up and up. We just talked about the economy. We have to think about the fact that these things are directly happening right in our backyard, right? Like not only are they dismembering one of the most oldest and prestigious institutions, the White House, I mean, we see it here in the background, but he's also taking money out of the hands of the American people and putting it into pockets of prize fighters, putting into pockets

of people who are standing to benefit. profit from this one. There's really a better use for the money. So it's a disappointment, yes, but is it a surprise? Absolutely not. Very on bread. And that's all, she's right. She's right, Michael. This is just him doing a birthday party. Remember he'd last, his first term, he wanted to do this big old military parade. And so now he's doing this. And he's like, yo, I can do whatever I want, no one can stop me. Well, you remember last year he had this little military parade with the squeaking tanks and the poor turnout, you know, things of that nature, you know, for his birthday. So, yeah, this is what this is. But I agree with a UFC fighter

Bryce Mitchell. Government should not be involved in sports. And this is Donald Trump, once again, getting involved in culture wars. Okay, this is something that we saw in the first administration when he attacked Colin Kaepernick called the NFL players who were kneeling SOBs, okay? And Donald Trump, you know, UFC appeals to a lot of young white men and a lot of white men in the early 20s things like this, right? So he is bringing this at the same time when a lot of these white men in the early 20s voted for Trump the first time in 2024 and they're turning on him. He's reeling them back in with the culture wars, right? So he has the UFC here on the White House line. And I want to know, okay, who has the contract to build this octagon?

Who has the contract for all this? Who's really making the money off of all of this as well? Well, hell, well, we've already seen the other story where people who've given Trump, you know, money for the ballroom, they've locked up some 50 or 500 billion in federal contracts. So he's just passing stuff out like Canyon. So that's just, look, he's corrupt. He's a thug. He's all of that.

And I can guarantee, I don't watch UFC anyway. Dana White is a wife beater. And he's got lots of racists who are in this, who fight for him. And so, yeah, they can have a little bullshit party, but ain't going to be watching. Folks, Con's woman, Jasmine Crock. You know what? So let's roll the Crockett Chronicles, y'all. There's a lot of construction of the wrong. Don't worry about it. Here's the deal.

Congressman Jasmine Crocky, they had a congressional hearing. Let's just say she had a few words to say about the extreme court led by Chief Justice John Roberts. It's hard to imagine how you can argue with a straight face that this is what we should be doing in this moment or ever. You see, because this is the same time as you heard an emotional Representative Cohen. Now, Representative Cohen is a white man, but in Memphis, Tennessee, the district that he represents, it is a majority black district. and black folk decided that he should be in Congress and be their voice. When you look at what they are proposing to do in Georgia, where it's my understanding that they plan to go after Lucy McBavv's seat yet again,

when you look at the type of seat that Hank Johnson currently sits in, it is also a VRA district. When you look at the state that they started in, Texas, is, they decided to go after majority minority districts to the extent that two black incumbents down in Houston just went head to head for a seat in which only one would survive. We know that there are currently debates taking place because Debbie Wasserman Schultz is now wanting to run in one of the few VRA districts that is left so that black people can have representation. You see, the reason that y'all want to do this right now isn't because you're

afraid that we are after a power grab, it's because you want to lock in this racist agenda for decades to come. Because that's exactly who this court is. This court is racist. This court is immoral. And this court lacks any semblance of ethics. The fact that this court just on last night decided that they want to go after yet another Alabama seat, and then they decided to throw out the votes of the voters in Louisiana because they decided that they wanted to go after yet another black seat in Louisiana. The fact that Virginia decided to stand up and fight back

and it was this same Supreme Court that decided forget the will of the people and the fact that they voted, we're going to throw that out. This isn't what democracy is supposed to be. So let me be clear about a couple of things. Number one, the court absolutely needs to be expanded because it's been expanded in the past. And yes, it makes sense. If we have 13 circuit courts, that we should have 13 judges.

But let's just pretend that the size of America was the same. Let's pretend that the complexity of the cases was the same as it was when we originally got the nine. Let's pretend all those things. I would still argue that it is time to not only expand the court to introduce some form of ethics and to put term limits on because you have bad actors like Mitch McConnell. this court was packed by the Republicans. And that is the reason you don't want it unpacked. You see, as a trained attorney, I don't understand how the very same court could say that in the state of Texas, four days before we were to have the end of filing,

it is too close to the end of filing. And so therefore, we've got to go ahead and go forward with these intentionally discriminatory maps. And these are the words and the words and the characterization of a Trump appointed justice. It's got to be bad when a Trump appointed justice decides that something is racist and is willing to call a thing, a thing, and put it into writing. But they did that.

They didn't just say it. They laid it out in an opinion that was more than 100 pages long. But this very same court will decide that after votes have been cast to throw those votes out. The reason that we need to do something about this court is because this court has decided that it will bend to the will. of a wannabe king. We have never in the history of this country needed a court to say that absolute immunity should be given

to a president because historically we don't actually keep criminals in the presidency. We know that even after he had been found guilty by a jury of his peers, y'all went out and y'all wanted to say, yes, this is our guy.

The same way that right now in the state of Texas for the Texas Senate race, I'm sure all y'all will line up behind that criminal as well. So I don't want to hear about law and order. I don't want to hear about this is the right thing to do. Just be honest about what it is because y'all are basically saying that we're stupid. You're playing in our faces.

We know that this is about locking in this agenda because you will never do right by the people. The reason that we have elections is because the people are supposed to decide whether or not your policies are actually working for them. But because you have killed our economy, because we are sitting in the midst of an unconstitutional, unlawful war, because we have a president that is lining his pockets in the pockets of his friends and his families, in violation of the immoluments clause and so many other laws, y'all want to lock in absolute power by any means necessary. And the last thing that I'll say is, I got to respect your gangster, because that's exactly how y'all are acting like real gangsters.

y'all are mobbing out and that's one reason that the Democrats are struggling right now because they have always tried to play by the rules I am here to say that I applaud the people of Virginia I am here to say that I applaud the people of California I am here to say that we need to meet fire with fire and fight y'all tooth and nail so that we can do right by the people and the general lady is expired and Matt that's why I call them the extreme court I really like how she highlighted you know, the contradiction and some of the decisions that they've made. And I think, you know, I don't have anything to add. I think she encapsulated it perfectly. But I think one thing that's important for people to remember is Congress is supposed to act as a check on the federal judiciary, right?

That's why we have checks and balances. So when you see a federal judge say, hey, your weaponization fund is not legal, but then you see the Senate vote to set it up anyway. it's a both-and situation. It's not only the problem that the Supreme Court has with some of its rulings, which I struggle with, because it sounds a lot often like they pick a destination and they try to make their legal ruling match that. And that's a difficult thing, but they are partisan. You know, we're seeing that, and that's not supposed to be what's happening in courts.

But the end part of that is Congress is supposed to be able to push back on that. So a federal judge says this is not a legal fund. It's not constitutional. this fund being set up, Congress is not supposed to then go behind them and set it up through legislation or vote for it. So, you know, people need to be mad at, I think, both of those, all three branches in this circumstance, but being mad at a Congress that is feckless that will not stand up and say this is wrong. And in fact, we agree with that federal judge. These things have an interplay, and we've got to be mad at both parts.

And, Connie? First off, I want to say that it's a travesty that we're losing my sore roar, Congresswoman McClain. Crockett and Congress. I mean, this woman is truly prolific and truly speaks truth to power. And I just can't believe we're losing a force like her, but I digress. I want to talk more about the race that's going on in Florida that she mentioned with Congresswoman Wasserman Schultz, because that's my district. It's District 20 down in Florida that Sheila-Sherfleashireme-McCormick was recently ousted from. This is a heavily contested seat rolling and a heavily contested In fact, Uncle Luke is running for that position.

Former Mayor Dale Holness is running for this position. So it's a highly contested race, and I really think it's interesting the fact that Leader Jeffery's actually withheld from giving Washerman Schultz his endorsement. And that speaks volumes, because, again, we know Washerman Schultz is actually a Democrat. She's a white woman, but she is a Democrat. But I think what the bigger message here that Congresswoman Crockett was trying to elucidate is that because the map has been carved up the way it has to be GOP friendly, we're seeing now a lot of people run in districts that have not historically been their districts, right?

And Debbie Wasserman Schultz is an example of that, of someone who's running in a majority minority district that has been historically represented by a black lawmaker for over three decades. So this is really a historical seat that she's running for, and I want to make sure that we're paying attention to that because Florida right now is really a state that we have to pay attention to not only because of what we just saw earlier in the show with the gubernatorial race, right? We just saw that Mayor Deming stepped down from the race, but now we're seeing, okay, there's a real opportunity here for this majority black district to be actually legislated by a non-black person. And so that is concerning when you think about what representation really means in the

state of Florida. And so I want to make sure that we're paying attention to that not only because of the state of Florida, but the wider implications of what losing a Democratic seat will mean in Congress. Michael? Yeah, I agree with, we're a representative. Representative Jasmine Crockett, and I'm sorry that we're losing her as well. But I agree with her analysis, and yes, the court should be expanded. We know that the number of Supreme Court justices has changed seven times throughout history, and we know it was last changed in 1869. And in the 19th century, we also know that Congress changed the number of Supreme Court

justices to fall in line with how many federal districts that were. war as well. So she said, you know, the 13 now. So, yeah, we need to expand this. But that, that, the expansion will only happen after Trump leaves office. And Democrats have to take back control of the House, the Senate, and the White House. Because Republicans are not going to vote for this. We have to, people have to understand this. This is one of the consequences of the previous elections. And this is while voting is so important. That has to, that bill has to pass. the House, the Senate, and be signed in law by our president to expand the courts. So as we talked about before Rowland, and as we talked about how all this goes back to the 2016

election, I can't stress enough. I was covering this election on 9-10 a.m., WFDF here in Detroit, and I watched a hundred. I watched about 100 speeches that Trump did as well as interviews with Trump supporters. And they said that that election was about the Supreme Court and the federal court. And unfortunately, a lot of African Americans didn't understand that. And we are seeing the consequences of this right now. Well, that's exactly the case. All right, then, let me thank Michael Wincunee and Matt for being on the show.

And yes, Matt, I am King Petty. You absolutely right. You damn skipping. All right, then. And let me, folks, on Wednesday, I flew to Chicago for a media day for the Obama Presidential Center. It is going to open to the public with a big grand party on June 18th. And got a chance to, again, look at the 19-acre campus in addition to the museum, the center. And here he is your first look at it.

The purpose of the Obama Presidential Center is to bring the life. this idea that ordinary people can do extraordinary things. And I had the opportunity. Back in 2016, I was asked to come and be our first vice president of civic engagement. And I started this conversation with our neighbors, with the city of Chicago, with people across the country and around the world, who help bring this to life. This is the permanent home for hope. When you walk through the lobby, that's the first thing you're going to see, is a beautiful piece of art that says hope. And y'all who are old enough to remember his campaign, you will remember that it was all about hope and change.

And you heard in the video his remarks about the fact that this is still a journey that he and Michelle Obama are on. So near, well, I should say, I started out at the very beginning of President Obama's administration. I co-chaired his transition, and then I served all eight years. And as we neared the end of the last year, he began thinking about what kind of a library he wanted to have. And he said a few things were for sure. Number one, he did not want it to simply be a time capsule looking at his presidency in isolation, which is why you heard him narrate that we begin with the people upon whose shoulders he stood, the people who made his journey possible, beginning with the Declaration of Independence,

slavery, reconstruction, the suffrage movement, the civil rights movement, all of the different ways in which ordinary people work together to do extraordinary things that led to his presidency. So he wanted his presidency to put in context in the museum, which we've done. The other thing he said is that my work is not done. I'm still pretty young. He was pretty young when he left office. Pretty gray now, but pretty young back then. I digress. And so he wanted to make sure that he and Michelle Obama had a permanent home to continue the work that they began right after he left office. And you're going to hear from Tina Chin in the minute about all of our programs. But he wanted to ensure that when people visited the campus, it wasn't a passive experience.

He wanted them to be able to engage with us. And you'll see through many of our videos are interactive and the displays are interactive. He wanted people to feel excited and to see the story. of the ordinary people who made these extraordinary things happen and feel connected to those stories. That was the magic of why he won his presidency twice, and that's the magic that he wants to instill in the next generation of leaders to realize that part of leadership is motivating people to do things that they didn't think were possible. And I think back on those field organizers in Iowa working through the dead of winter, trying to advocate for somebody who had a funny name who was from the South Side of the city, of Chicago, and it was hard work, but they believed in something better, that they could be a part of something bigger and more important than themselves. As you tour the campus, I want you to imagine

the kinds of programs that can take place. Here in this very space, we're going to have form talks and musical performances that will be open and available, starting at our grand opening weekend on June 19th, 20th, and 21st. In the Fruit and Vegetable Garden, we have a collaboration with the Urban Growers Collective as our partner to really teach people about urban hortic culture and how to grow fruits and vegetables in a healthy way in an urban setting and then what to do with those fruits and vegetables at our garden classroom. We have a branch of the Chicago Public Library because we really want it a public space. It's the newest branch in the fabulous Chicago Public Library System within that there is a presidential reading room which is inspired by the not only the books written by the President of the First Lady but the books that have inspired them and folks have a contemplative place to go in there sit down take a book, read, read, it and think about what change they want to make in the world.

We've got an incredible playground. We've got a water walkway. We are going to have a seniors walking program that will start in August. And our home court is our full-size NBA regulation quality basketball court. Of course, it is Barack Obama's presidential center. So of course, we have a basketball court here, but it's more than that. It's our athletic center. There are classrooms in it.

It's also our largest convening space. We have a partnership already with Afterschool Matters that we have announced. Many of you from Chicago will know it as the premier after school program here in Chicago operating programs across the city. We're going to be their newest location where we're collaborating on a teen action lab to do sports activations and teaching there. Also activations in the garden. Activations in our media suite, which is right downstairs from here. We have a fully equipped recording studio and performance space for kids to learn about. media. We'll kind of partner with you media from the Chicago Public Library as well to do that work.

And, you know, hopefully to also learn about careers and evolve over time. We're going to start small. We're going to start gradually, but this will be a place. We hope over time and the decades to come that we'll be around where we'll be a place of gathering not just for the people of Chicago. We are an open public park and space. The only ticketed floors are the four museum floors. The rest of everything you see, including that incredible hope and change lobby, in the ground floor of the museum are free and open to the public. So we want the public to engage with this as a public space. But we also want the world to come here so that we will bring our global leaders here. We will bring leaders from other world to talk about things like democracy, about how art can propel us in democracy, how change can happen.

And so it will be a gathering space for people across the country, around the world, and from right here at home. I was born in Chicago. I was raised by Chicago. I know what Chicago was like before this presidential center was here and what this presidential center means in the larger civic conversation that happens in our city. This is a unique place. This is a place where people from South Shore or South Korea are now going to have a place to come to, to be inspired, to be empowered, and to connect. where they can share stories and values

about how they're going to go back to their communities and be change makers. We're expecting over the course of a year, over 600,000 people to come to the museum alone. That's not including people who will simply come to the campus to experience the 28 pieces of commissioned art, to experience the playground, to experience home court.

This is going to be a lot. to be pride is like love you feel it in your heart iR radio Canada's number one streaming app for radio and podcasts including iHeart pride Canada your favorite hits and must have party bangers plus personalized and curated playlists like back in the day pride come together celebrate love take pride with you anytime anywhere just ask your smart speaker to play iHeart pride Canada stream us on your phone or listen now at iHeartRadio.ca. Hey, I'm Hoda Kotby, host of the podcast, Joy 101 with Hoda Kotby. Okay, if you know me, you know this.

I'm always searching for inspiration, for support, and useful tools to help maximize joy. So this podcast lets us uncover all of that together. We're going to have these meaningful conversations with the world's most fascinating people, like when actress Olivia Munn shared how she overcame fierce health challenges that she never saw coming. I've gone through breast cancer and then helped my mother through breast cancer, and that was more difficult. There's a lot of people who understand postpartner depression. I was not prepared for postpartum anxiety. Olympic champ Sean Johnson revealed why she had no choice but to be a gymnast.

There was something about gymnastics that was intoxicating to me. It's given me a belief that we all have one of those treasures inside of us. We just have to find it. Listen to Joy 101 with Hoda Kotby on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. A decade ago, the ethanol kingpin of Iowa became the king of corn in Brazil. So we met with a lot of larger farmers, went from Bahia to Tokatines to Montegrozzo. And he brought a team of executives. They were going to help the country get in on a gold rush.

Carbon and its derivatives are going to be really the next great commodity that the globe's going to trade. But back home in Iowa, trouble was brewing. If you live in Iowa, your land, your water, and your voice, Could all be at risk, thanks to a man named Bruce Rastetter. Now, people are questioning if his climate solutions have anything to do with climate at all. You got to give Bruce and the guy's credit. They're Republican. They don't get a bit of money.

It's now. On this season of drilled, Carbon Cowboys, the story of how the ethanol kingpin of Iowa became the king of corn in Brazil and what it tells us about the limits of technology and markets to solve the climate crisis. Listen on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you. you get your podcasts. Hey, this is Chuck from Stuff You Should Know, and we're submitting our most sciencey episodes for your peer review with our new stuff you should know doing science playlist.

Out now. You want to know about Occam's Razor? Simplest explanation is usually the right one? We got you covered. Wondered what chaos theory is ever since the first time you saw Jurassic Park. Well, come on down. So distill a nice pot of tea, everybody. Turn down the gas on your Bunsen burner and slip into your most comfortable lab coat and listen

to the stuff you should know doing science. science playlist on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. From daily news to dating fails, conspiracy theories to cooking with celebrities who can't actually cook, Amazon Music's got the most ad-free top podcasts ready to entertain, included with Prime. A welcoming place. I often say, I grew up in a house where we were not allowed to play in the living room. Some of you know what I'm talking about.

And in fact, because they knew that we would play in the living room, they put plastic on the furniture. So in case you disobeyed, you still would not ruin the furniture. But what's interesting about the living room is that it was the one place in the house where families invested the most resources for the presentation that they had done well with their families and their friends. It was the one place, the one room in the house, that was for everyone else but the people who live there. For a very long time, Chicago has been like a living room with plastic on the furniture. This Obama presidential center on the south side of Chicago is going to become the new living room for the world. They're going to have the opportunity to come here to experience an extraordinary museum presentation that Louise Bernard has had the opportunity to curate and to direct. You'll hear from her in a minute.

They're going to have an opportunity to come into these spaces and to learn and to connect so that they can be change makers in their communities. We were tasked in many ways by President and Mrs. Obama to ensure, as Valerie mentioned, that this is not a time capsule. It's not just about that moment of circa 2007 to circa 2017. Rather, the story of the story of the story of is embedded in a nuanced contextual history, but it's also incredibly forward-looking. It is about the power and possibility of everyday people to make change. While we're also mindful, the story of the nation's 44th president, the first black president, is the story of someone who began their career path as a community organizer here on the south side of Chicago.

Barack Obama is also a creative, innovative thinker. is a reader, writer, thinker. And so again, the power of words is embedded in the experience across each of the levels of the museum. So we begin with a nuanced contextual history. We begin with a Declaration of Independence in dialogue with Native American petitions. So immediately, it is about the voice of everyday people

advocating for their rights. We take the visitor through a journey that highlights a grassroots movement. from the 2008 presidential campaign to that wellspring of hope that was felt around the world on election night. We tell the story of the Obama administration's work across two terms, both domestic and foreign policy.

President Obama wanted us to think about the work that remained, which is to say that democracy is always a work in progress. And progress is never linear. There is the push and the pull, it zigs and it sags. But that work is part of the work that we all do. We are all social actors in the making of this history. I am part of a family-owned business. I'm third generation of the Powers family

to be a part of our construction company. And what that means when you work for a family-owned business is often your work stories become intertwined with your family stories. The stories you tell when you're sitting around the dining room table or out in the back yard on Father's Day. So my journey here today started with my grandfather. When he returned from World War II, he came north to Chicago area as part of the Great Migration. He came here

searching for more opportunities for what he believed to be a better future. And as I sit here today and walk across the campus, I can't imagine how proud he must be of us looking down on us from heaven for what we've accomplished. And I'm sure he never in a million, billion years would have ever expected his family to be a part of such an amazing project. My father is a dreamer. He has big dreams. And when President Obama was still in the White House, my father started believing in the possibility that President Obama may choose Chicago to be the location where he would build his library.

And he thought, if that would happen, that folks who looked like me should have an opportunity to have a seat at the table. And the black contracting community should have the opportunity to have a significant role in the construction of the project. And he set about and started talking to his colleagues and those he knew in the industry to find others who

shared in that dream and that belief. And ultimately, we created Lakeside Alliance, which a five-entity joint venture, a minority-led joint venture that was chosen to be the construction manager for the Obama Presidential Center. So I sat in McCormick Place and I listened to President Obama give his final speech. And the words that resonated with me then, I still even got a little sticker on my laptop, was when he asked us not to believe in his ability to bring about change but to believe in our own. And that really has been our guiding light, our driving force from the moment that we were selected for this role.

We had to believe in our ability to bring about the change that we felt was needed in our industry in Chicago and in our communities. And to decide how we were going to use this awesome opportunity to make a change and make a difference for others. So we set about creating a different approach to contracting opportunities that offered opportunities for businesses that typically never would have the option to work on a project such as this. Businesses of all shapes and sizes throughout the city, throughout the state, throughout the country, and the world had the opportunity to participate here. And also, most importantly, job opportunities to make sure that the workforce that built this center was reflective of where we built it. So it is built with the community, with workers who live in the local area, on the south and west sides of Chicago, and throughout the city of Chicago. And that was really important to us, that this place is being built with and by those who call Chicago home.

I like to think of the Obama Presidential Center as a tribute to what happens when ordinary people come together to do extraordinary things. Here on Chicago South Side, the Obama Presidential Center offers the chance to explore a world-class museum and gather together for celebrations of all kinds. It adds to the vitality of Jackson Park, adding new gardens, a larger playground, and scenic paths for an early morning jog or an afternoon stroll. At the Obama Presidential Center Museum exhibits explore the fullness of the American story from the promise of our founding. documents to the movements that challenged us to live up to them. You'll be able to walk through a full-scale replica of the Oval Office, relive the moments that define my presidency, experience the impact of our history-making First Lady, and check out a few of redresses, too.

And atop the museum, you'll be able to take in some stunning panoramic views of the city we love. We designed the forum building with a focus on the creativity and imagination that's always defined this city. Here, programs and leadership trainings support and connect the next generation of change makers here in Chicago to those from all around the world. Public libraries are essential institutions, and that's why the Obama Presidential Center offers a new branch of the Chicago Public Library and on the roof a garden. At the center of it all, a public plaza welcomes visitors for live performances and community festivals. A huge green lawn.

to throw a frisbee or spread out a blanket. And once it turns cold, we'll open up the best sledding hill in the neighborhood. At home court, visitors not only come together to get active, but to take action. That's the Obama Presidential Center. It couldn't be more important to us that it's happening right here on the South Side. This is the place Michelle was born and raised. It's where I got a start as a community organizer. It's where we bought our first house, built our family,

and took the first steps on a journey. that's still taking shape today. It's the place we found our purpose. Now we hope to give something back. As I said, the big grand opening is going to be June 18th. We'll be live streaming it here on the Black Star Network. Folks, that is it for us. Appreciate again, the panel will be in today.

Thank you all of you watching as well. Don't forget, support the work that we do. Join our Bring the Funk fan club. If you want to join us, please use cash out. Use the Stripe QR Code. You see it right here. That's also the credit cards as well. Check some money, order, make it payable,

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And then, of course, every day, the breakdown of Brittany Noble at noon Eastern on the Black Star Network. All right, folks, that's it. I'll be coming to you live from Monday, live Monday from Atlanta. Former NFL player Ward Dunn has his foundation that supports Habitat for Humanity and assist families who get homes there. And so I will be supporting him in his golf tournament taking place on Monday. The parents' party is on Sunday. And so I'll be live from Atlanta on Monday, live from Nashville on Thursday. The NFL players alumni, they have their golf tournament in Nashville.

And so we'll be sharing the work that they're doing, the charities they're supporting. Speaking that, in Memphis on Friday, the Juneteen celebration in Memphis on Friday. So I'll be live in Memphis on Friday. And they're speaking in Dallas on Saturday. So full week on the road broadcasting on the Black Star Network. Folks, that's it. I will see y'all on Monday. Have a fantabulous weekend.

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