#RolandMartinUnfiltered - LA Congressional Map Battle, Jim Jordan is Out, Georgia's Cop City Fight, 3rd Trump Ally Guilty Plea

Episode Date: October 21, 2023

10.20.2023 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: LA Congressional Map Battle, Jim Jordan is Out, Georgia's Cop City Fight, 3rd Trump Ally Guilty Plea LIVE from Stonecrest, Georgia, at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church, where the McDonald's Inspiration Celebration Gospel Tour will be later tonight.  Here's what's coming Up on Roland Martin Unfiltered streaming live on the Black Star Network. The Supreme Court is allowing the Louisiana Republican-drawn congressional map that a federal judge said diluted the power of Black voters to remain as an appeal moves through the lower courts.  An attorney from the Legal Defense Fund is here to explain what's next for the state refusing to comply.  House Republicans drop Jim Jordan as their nominee for speaker after failing to secure the gavel for the third time.  We'll look at who is stepping up to lead the house.  Opposition to Atlanta's "Cop City" says the city council is not moving forward to verify thousands of signatures to force a voter referendum to halt the complex.  We'll talk to one of the organizers of #StopCopCity. A third co-defendant in the Georgia election interference case pleads guilty during jury selection.  You'll hear attorney  Kenneth Chesebro admit to his guilt in open court.   A New York judge slaps Donald Trump with a fine for violating a gag order.  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.

This is an iHeart Podcast. to, yeah, banana pudding. If it's happening in business, our new podcast is on it. I'm Max Chastain. And I'm Stacey Vanek-Smith. So listen to Everybody's Business on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Lott. And this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast.

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

Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. We asked parents who adopted teens to share their journey. We just kind of knew from the beginning that we were family. They showcased a sense of love that I never had before. I mean, he's not only my parent, like, he's like my best friend. At the end of the day, it's all been worth it.

I wouldn't change a thing about our lives. Learn about adopting a teen from foster care. Visit AdoptUSKids.org to learn more. Brought to you by AdoptUSKids, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the Ad Council. Hey folks, today's Friday, October 20th, 2023. Coming up on Roland Martin Unfiltered, streaming live on the Black Star Network. We are here at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Lithonia, Georgia. We're at McDonald's latest stop on the Gospel Inspiration Tour, they will be taking place in the next hour. Speaking of that, we're going to be talking to one of the artists, Mike Teasy,

who was on this tour, and he's talking about, of course, what it means to be a hip-hop artist who also dances, bringing a whole different flavor to gossip music. You don't want to miss that interview. Also on today's show, it is Vice President Kamala Harris' 59th birthday. Happy birthday. In addition to that, we'll be talking about Louisiana Congressional District. Supreme Court is allowing Louisiana Republicans more time to draw new maps, which makes no sense because they drew them last year and they were

ruled to be unconstitutional and illegals. We'll talk with the lawyer for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund about that. Also, opposition to Atlanta's Cop City continues as the city is not moving forward to verify thousands of signatures to force a voter referendum, we'll talk to one of the organizers of Stop City. Here in Fulton County, another major, major development for Fulton County DA Fannie Willis, another of one of Donald Trump's imps. Guess what? Pleads guilty. We'll tell you exactly what happened today also new york

judges snapped donald trump with a fine for violating a gag order uh that more folks it's time to bring the funk i'm roland martin filchard on the black star network let's go whatever it is, he's got the scoop, the fact, the fine. And when it breaks, he's right on time. And it's rolling. Best belief he's knowing. Putting it down from sports to news to politics. With entertainment just for kicks. He's rolling.

It's Uncle Roro, y'all. It's rolling, Martin. Yeah. Rolling with rolling now. Yeah, yeah. It's Roland Martin. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Rolling with Roland now. Yeah. He's funky, he's fresh, he's real the best. You know he's Roland Martin now.

Martin. Hey, folks, Roland Martin here. We are live at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church. I'm going to step out of the way here. As you see, this is the sanctuary that's straight ahead, of course, and what's happening there, the McDonald's Inspiration Gospel Tour. This is the fourth stop. First was Chicago, Detroit, we're in Philadelphia. Now they are here in Atlanta at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church. Folks are showing up. The concert is going to start in the next hours. The people are already showing up.

And so these are all the artists who are performing. And so we are here looking forward to that. And also in the second half of the show, Mike Deasy is one of the artists performing. We're going to have my one-on-one interview with him. And so definitely want to look forward to that. All right, folks, let's talk about what's happening in politics today. In Louisiana, the Supreme Court is giving Republicans there more time to fix their illegal maps. Now, this is weird because the maps were declared illegal last year, 2022, early 2022. But the Supreme Court ruled that it was too late to change, to fix it in time for the midterm elections. Actually, that was wrong, but so be it.

And so then we went now in 2023, Republicans have been complaining that they don't have enough time to actually fix the maps, which is crazy because, okay, they've been illegal since last year. And so here to help us explain what's going on is one of the lawyers from the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. They have been leading this fight. They have been battling in the courts tooth and nail, fighting Republicans on this. And so glad to have Jared Evans. He's a policy counsel for the LDF.

Join us from New Orleans. All right, Jared, so explain to us what in the world is going on, because these are illegal maps. They're flat out illegal. And so Supreme Court has been weighing in on this. And so Republicans now saying, oh, we need more time. How do you need more time when literally you've had more than a year and a half? They had a lot more time than that, Roland.

So we were about to get a new map. We were days away from going to the middle district in Baton Rouge before Judge Dick. And she was ready to start the process of getting a new map in place that had two majority black districts. As you know, Roland, currently, New Orleans and Baton Rouge are packed into one congressional district,

and as LDF and the ACLU and our clients have argued since the very beginning of this process that those are two distinct cities with two distinct needs, and they should be both anchored in their own congressional districts. And the state went to the Fifth Circuit and asked for a writ of mandamus. And that's a legal term that basically means that it stops or forces an administrative body to do something. And in this case, they asked the Fifth Circuit to stop Judge Dick from introducing her map. As I said, she was about to start the process, and they essentially said that they needed more time, that the legislature didn't have enough time last year, and that hopefully,

if they give them more time, that they'll be able to institute one. But look, Roland, we know what this is. They want to slow this down as much as possible. From the very beginning of this process, their tactic has been to delay and to stall and to push this back, you know, hoping that they can get through another election. Last year, they asked the Supreme Court to issue a stay so they didn't have to institute the map for the 2022 election. And now we're set to go to trial. We're going to go back to court for February 5th in Baton Rouge to get a new map. And so that's what we're focused on. We're headed into February 5th confident that we're going to walk out of court that week with a new map of two majority districts. All right, Jared, this is Michael M. Hotep. So I know we talked about this a few weeks ago on Roland Martin Unfiltered. I saw the story from NBCNews.com yesterday. And if I remember correctly, the ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court was unanimous. And one of the questions I had was the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that they overruled U.S. District Judge Shelley Dick. And they said that she was moving too fast and must give the state

of Louisiana more time to consider a new map. Can you explain what is possibly the harm in moving too fast, if that can be proven in court, moving too fast to create this new congressional district? What could be the harm? What could be the backlash or something like that? Well, from our perspective, there is no harm and there is no backlash. It's already been too late. We've already gone through one congressional election cycle with the illegal unfair map that Judge Dick herself in an 86-page opinion last year has said was unfair. But Judge Dick, in her wisdom, listened to the court, and she's given the legislature more time. They now have until February 5th to pass a map.

And look, this past weekend, a new governor was elected. There will be a new legislature in January. But we certainly don't have to wait until then. We still have a governor in place now, Governor Edwards. There's still a legislature that's seated. And they still have an affirmative obligation to comply with the law, to comply with Judge Dick's order. And, you know, as soon as we get a ruling from the Fifth Circuit—two weeks ago today,

my colleague Stuart Nafee argued before the Fifth Circuit here in New Orleans on the state's original appeal. And, you know, any moment now, any day now, we certainly expect to get a decision. And I don't want to be overly confident, but I'm very confident in this case and the case that we put together and our clients more than anything else. And so we are anxiously awaiting an opinion from the Fifth Circuit. And, look, if whatever date the court sets, that's when we're going to go and fight for our map. And so Judge Dick has said that that's going to be February 5th. That is several weeks after the new governor and the new legislature is installed and sworn in. So whether it be later this year that they decide to go in and pass the map or whether they wanna wait for the new governor

to get installed, it doesn't matter to us. Our goal is to have a map in place with two majority black districts as quickly as possible so that there's time for the appeals to be played out and the rest of the legal process to exhaust itself so that we are in a good place for the 2024 elections. Right. A quick follow-up question. Jared, can you hear me?

Oh, I'm sorry. Michael, hold on. Hold on, Michael. So, Jared, here's the thing that's of concern to me. We're talking about the Fifth Circuit, okay? Hard right. This is already being litigated. And so the Republicans want to try to litigate it again, as opposed to coming up with the map. So if the Republicans come back with a map that does not follow the court's decision, then what? Because they're trying to restart the clock, and what they want is they want another trial, and then, oh, too late, primaries are coming up. But here's the difference. Louisiana, their primaries are later in the year, correct? That's correct, Roland. You're 100% correct there. Here's the thing, Roland. Their whole tactic is to delay this to the 2024 election. The court can see right through that. Judge Dick has set trial for February—has set the hearing for February 5th. She's already

struck down their map. She's already given us a very strong 86 page opinion. And she carefully walked through every single element and issue that we have to prove to show that the map that the state passed violated section two of the Voting Rights Act. First, you have to show that the minority population is geographically compact and large enough to constitute a majority in a single member district we did that we've submitted eight different maps to the legislature

to show that two uh that a map can be drawn with two majority black districts um second you have to show that there's racially polarized voting state and federal courts have have ruled that racially polarized voting pervades Louisiana's elections, both locally and statewide. And third, you have to show that without this district, without a district that allows the minorities an opportunity to elect a candidate of their choice, their candidate will be soundly defeated. And we've shown that over and over and over. There have been Black candidates, Black choice candidates who have ran in pretty much every single congressional district in Louisiana outside of District 2 and have been defeated. So we've proven our case, Roland. We've proven it. The district court has ruled that we've

proven our case. The Fifth Circuit last year, you know, ruled in our favor and allowed our case to go forward. So, you know, right now we're just in a process where the state is playing out every kind of delay tactic and stall tactic they can, but we certainly go into court in February very confident in the record we built thanks to the Legislative Black Caucus, thanks to the Power Coalition and our amazing clients with the NAACP. And, you know, we're going to walk out of court February 5th with the map in place with two majority black districts. All right, then, Jared Evans with LDF. We certainly appreciate it. You have the good work. Thanks a lot. No problem. Thanks for having me, Roland.

All right, folks, we'll come back. We'll talk to my panel about this again, folks, we're going to come back. We're going to talk to my panel about this. Again, folks, this is an assault. Let me be very clear. Everybody who is watching and listening. A lot of times the big economic forces we hear about on the news show up in our lives in small ways. Three or four days a week, I would buy two cups of banana pudding. But the price has gone up, so now I only buy one. The demand curve in action. And that's just one of the things we'll be covering on Everybody's Business from Bloomberg Businessweek.

I'm Max Chavkin. And I'm Stacey Vanek-Smith. Every Friday, we will be diving into the biggest stories in business, taking a look at what's going on, why it matters, and how it shows up in our everyday lives. But guests like Businessweek editor Brad Stone, sports reporter Randall Williams, and consumer spending expert Amanda Mull will take you inside the boardrooms, the backrooms, even the signal chats that make our economy tick. Hey, I want to learn about VeChain. I want to buy some blockchain or whatever it is that they're doing. So listen to Everybody's Business on the iHeartRadio app,

Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops called this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple.

Cops believed everything that taser told them. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multi-billion dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,

or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th. Ad-free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Lott. And this is Season 2 of the War on Drugs podcast. Yes, sir. We are back. In a big way. In a very big way. I'm Greg Glott. And this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast.

We are back. In a big way. In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives. This is kind of star-studded a little bit, man. We got Ricky Williams, NFL player, Heisman Trophy winner. It's just a compassionate choice to allow players all reasonable means to care for themselves. Music stars Marcus King, John Osborne from Brothers Osborne. We have this misunderstanding of what this quote-unquote drug thing is. Benny the Butcher.

Brent Smith from Shinedown. We got B-Real from Cypress Hill. NHL enforcer Riley Cote. Marine Corvette. MMA fighter Liz Caramouch. What we're doing now isn't working

and we need to change things. Stories matter and it brings a face to them. It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content,

subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. A lot of times the big economic forces we hear about on the news show up in our lives in small ways. Three or four days a week, I would buy two cups of banana pudding. But the price has gone up, so now I only buy one. The demand curve in action. And that's just one of the things we'll be covering on Everybody's Business from Bloomberg Businessweek. I'm Max Chavkin. And I'm Stacey Vanek-Smith.

Every Friday, we will be diving into the biggest stories in business, taking a look at what's going on, why it matters, and how it shows up in our everyday lives. But guests like Businessweek editor Brad Stone, sports reporter Randall Williams, and consumer spending expert Amanda Mull will take you inside the boardrooms, the backrooms, even the signal chats that make our economy tick. Hey, I want to learn about VeChain. I want to buy some blockchain or whatever it is that they're doing. So listen to Everybody's Business on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no.

Across the country, cops called this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser told them. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multi-billion dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad.

Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated, on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st, and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th. Ad-free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Lott.

And this is Season 2 of the War on Drugs podcast. We are back. In a big way. In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives. This is kind of star-studded a little bit, man. We got Ricky Williams, NFL player, Heisman Trophy winner. It's just a compassionate choice to allow players all reasonable means to care for themselves. Music stars Marcus King, John Osborne from Brothers Osborne. We have this misunderstanding of what this quote-unquote drug thing is.

Benny the Butcher. Brent Smith from Shinedown. We got B-Real from Cypress Hill. NHL enforcer Riley Cote. Marine Corvette. MMA fighter Liz Caramouch. What we're doing now isn't working and we need to change things.

Stories matter and it brings a face to them. It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. here in Louisiana. You're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered, broadcasting live from Newburgh,

Missionary Baptist Church, Lithonia, Georgia. We'll be back on the Black Star Network. Hatred on the streets, a horrific scene, a white nationalist rally that descended into deadly violence. You will not be black.

White people are losing their damn lives. There's an angry pro-Trump mob storm to the U.S. Capitol. We're about to see the rise of what I call white minority resistance. We have seen white folks in this country who simply cannot tolerate black folks voting. I think what we're seeing is the inevitable result of violent denial. This is part of American history. Every time that people of color have made progress, whether real or symbolic, there has been what Carol Anderson at every university calls white rage as a backlash.

This is the wrath of the Proud Boys and the Boogaloo Boys. America, there's going to be more of this. There's all the Proud Boys, guys. This country is getting increasingly racist in its behaviors and its attitudes because of the fear of white people. The fear that they're taking our jobs, they're taking our resources,

they're taking our women. This is white fear. Pull up a chair, take your seat. The Black Tape with me, Dr. Greg Carr, here on the Black Star Network. Every week, we'll take a deeper dive into the world we're living in. Join the conversation only on the Black Star Network. I'm Deborah Owens, America's Wealth Coach and host of Get Wealthy. Let me hit you with a few numbers. African-Americans spend nine times the amount on ethnic beauty products and yet only ow

the beauty supply stores industry on the next get gonna learn and hear from this obstacle into an opp literally take you from A to Z on all of the things, step by step, you need to have in place to open and run a very successful beauty supply store.

That's right here with me, Deborah Owens, host of Get Wealthy, only on Black Star Network. Hey, what's up? It's Tammy Roman. Hey, it's John Murray, the executive producer of the new Sherri Shepherd Talk Show. Hey, it's me, Sherri Shepherd, and you know what you're watching, Star Network, broadcasting live from New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Lithonia, Georgia, where McDonald's is hosting their Inspiration Gospel Concert in the next hour. My panel, Michael Imhotep, host, African History Network show out of Detroit,

Matt Manning, civil rights attorney out of Corpus Christi, Caleb Bethel, communications strategist out of Washington, D.C. Matt, I want to start with you. This is a legal battle that's going on here, and it's beyond hilarious to watch how Republicans, they try this in Alabama, now they're trying it here, how they're trying to draw this thing out to run the clock out so they can use an illegal map again in 2024? Yeah, you know, it looks like they're trying to run out the clock. And the thing that's particularly problematic about this is that you already have a district judge determining that their map is not constitutional, right? So a lot of times when you have an appellate court reviewing

a lower court's decision, they're going to defer to what that lower court has decided. And my understanding here is the Supreme Court is going to give the legislature more time. But this is one of those problematic scenarios where that doesn't make any sense, right? She's already decided that the map is not constitutional and that the map has to be redrawn. So I don't really know why the Supreme Court would allow the delay. Now, I understand it was a unanimous decision. So it sounds like it's one where the clerks and the justices have decided that maybe equity or equitable principles here in terms of time allow them to redraw the map. But the problem with this kind of thing is that in the interim, you have time going by where the map is not drawn. And you have, frankly, an emboldened state legislature that doesn't feel

like it needs to adhere to the Supreme Court on any particular timetable. So that's what I think is the issue here. And I'm wondering why the Supremes didn't say, look, she's already resolved it. We're not going to get involved in this. Or we're going to go ahead and send it back down and allow her to start that drawing process. So they are trying to run out the clock. And here the Supreme Court's decision essentially helps them do that rather than requiring the state legislature to get a map that is an adherence to the Constitution. And here's the problem you have here, Kelly. One, the candidates who may run for the position, they can't run because right now there is no position as first. Two, as Matt said, you have a Republican legislature who can keep playing these games. And the other issue is that the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals,

about 25 or so judges, 22 of them have been appointed by Republican presidents. And so it is probably the hardest right-wing appeals court in the country. Yeah, it's unfortunate. I agree with Matt here regarding the Supreme Court's rationale. I feel like it was definitely more of a rules-based ruling as opposed to, you know, what is exactly right and wrong in this situation. They clearly know something that we don't in these articles. But overall, this situation with Louisiana is just incredibly frustrating because it's clear that another majority black district needs to exist. And the fact that they have, you know, jumped over every single hurdle necessary as far as meeting the elements regarding Section 2, meeting the criteria necessary to arrive to this decision, and it's still not happening.

It is certainly frustrating, and I don't exactly know what the solution is from here, considering that now the federal court's hands are tied behind their backs. You know, Michael, again, and I know people may think this is this has been overly dramatic, but it's not. In many ways, this just reminds me of Jim Crow days with Supreme Court and the courts make a decision. And you have racist legislatures who are like, no, we don't care. We're going to do what we want. That's that's what. And in fact, what was so crazy is that you had the Fifth Circuit played the crucial role in really defining Brown v. Board of Education. Now we have a whole different situation today. Yeah, Roland, you know, the fight continues. And Jim and Jane Crow had children and grandchildren, so we're still fighting the same fight.

If I had a chance to ask a follow-up question to Attorney Evans, my follow-up question would have dealt with the fact that we know that Jessica Tonji Brown Jackson, in her opinion, she wrote that the drawing of the new map, the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling merely delayed the process and it should be completed in time for the 2024 election. But she also believed that Judge Shelley Dick can resume the work on new maps while the appeal is pending. So then the question I had was, is the judge going to resume the work on the new maps? Do we have any information on that while the appeal is pending? While the appeal is pending? Well, I'll tell you, this is the continuing battle that we see. But let me be perfectly clear to everybody who's watching. We can fight for these positions, but we also have to then turn out and actually use our power by voting.

Hold tight one second. We come back. I'm going to talk about the Stop Cop City initiative happening here in Atlanta. It is heating up. We'll tell you what the latest is. You're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered right here on the Black Star Network, broadcasting from Atlanta, Georgia, back in a moment. We'll be right back. We're not getting. You get it. And you spread the word. We wish to plead our own cause to long have others spoken for us.

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PayPal is R. Martin Unfiltered. Venmo is RM Unfiltered. Zelle is Roland at Rolandunfiltered. Venmo is rmunfiltered. Zelle is roland at rolandsmartin.com. I'm Deborah Owens, America's Wealth Coach and host of Get Wealthy. Let me hit you with a few numbers. African-Americans spend nine times the amount on ethnic beauty products and yet only own 1% of the beauty supply stores. It's an $18 billion industry. On the next Get Wealthy, you're going to learn and hear from a woman who's turning this

obstacle into an opportunity. We literally take you from A to Z on all of the things, step by step, you need to have in place to open and run a very successful beauty supply store. That's right here with me, Deborah Owens, host of Get Wealthy, only on Blackstar Network. Hey, what's up?

Keith Turino, place to be. Got kicked out your mama's university, creator and executive producer of Fat Tuesdays, an air hip-hop comedy. But right now, I'm rolling with Roland Martin. Unfiltered, uncut, unplugged, and

undamned believable. You hear me? Thank you. Să ne urmăm în următoarea mea rețetă. Thank you. Să ne urmăm în următoarea mea rețetă. We are live here at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church for the McDonald's Inspiration Celebration and Gospel Tour. This is the fourth stop in a six-city tour. They'll be next going to Dallas, closing this thing out in Jackson, Mississippi. And so they've been to Chicago, Atlanta, Philadelphia, and now Atlanta. Speaking of Atlanta, folks, let's talk about Cop City. It is one of the huge stories that has been taking place. And activists have been trying to stop this building of a massive development, a law enforcement training center. There have been protests.

There have been going on arrests taking place as well. And so now there's an effort to collect petitions, signatures to get this on the ballot. But now there's a battle between organizers of that initiative as well as the city of Atlanta. The Atlanta City Council refuses to move forward with verifying 116,000 signatures supporting this proposed referendum.

Now, a new poll shows that 60% of Atlanta voters want Cop City placed on the ballot. Organizers of the Stop Cop City campaign continue to push for the referendum as Atlanta tries to decide whether or not to build this $90 million police training facility. Noah Changa joins me now from Atlanta. Noah is one of the folks who is involved in this effort to get this on the ballot. Noah, welcome to the show. So I'm trying to understand, how is the city refusing to verify the signatures? Don't they have to have a verification system to make sure that eligible voters properly sign and that this is going to be a legal initiative? A lot of times the big economic forces we hear about on the news show up in our lives in small ways.

Three or four days a week, I would buy two cups of banana pudding. But the price has gone up. So now I only buy one. The demand curve in action. And that's just one of the things we'll be covering on Everybody's Business from Bloomberg Businessweek. I'm Max Chavkin. And I'm Stacey Vanek-Smith. Every Friday, we will be diving into the biggest stories in business, taking a look at what's going on, why it matters and how it shows up in our everyday lives. But guests like Business Week editor Brad Stone, sports reporter Randall Williams, and consumer spending expert Amanda Mull will take you inside the boardrooms, the backrooms, even the signal chats that make our economy tick.

Hey, I want to learn about VeChain. I want to buy some blockchain or whatever it is that they're doing. So listen to Everybody's Business on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops called this taser the revolution.

But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser told them. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multi-billion dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad.

It's really, really, really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st, and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th. Add free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Glod. And this is Season 2 of the War on Drugs podcast.

We are back. In a big way. In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives. This is kind of star-studded a little bit, man. We got Ricky Williams, NFL player, Heisman Trophy winner. It's just a compassionate choice to allow players all reasonable means to care for themselves. Music stars Marcus King, John Osborne from Brothers Osborne.

We have this misunderstanding of what this quote-unquote drug man. Benny the Butcher. Brent Smith from Shinedown. We got B-Real from Cypress Hill. NHL enforcer Riley Cote. Marine Corvette. MMA fighter Liz Caramouch. What we're

doing now isn't working and we need to change things. Stories matter and it brings a face to them. It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content,

subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. A lot of times the big economic forces we hear about on the news show up in our lives in small ways. Three or four days a week, I would buy two cups of banana pudding. But the price has gone up, week, I would buy two cups of banana pudding, but the price has gone up. So now I only buy one. The demand curve in action. And that's just one of the things we'll be covering on Everybody's Business from Bloomberg Businessweek. I'm Max Chavkin. And I'm Stacey Vanek-Smith. Every Friday, we will be diving into the biggest stories in business, taking a look at what's going on, why it matters, and how it shows up in our everyday lives.

But guests like Businessweek editor Brad Stone, sports reporter Randall Williams, and consumer spending expert Amanda Mull will take you inside the boardrooms, the backrooms, even the signal chats that make our economy tick. Hey, I want to learn about VeChain.

I want to buy some blockchain or whatever it is that they're doing. So listen to Everybody's Business on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops called this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple.

Cops believed everything that taser told them. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multi-billion dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated

on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th. Add free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Lott. And this is Season 2 of the War on Drugs podcast. Yes, sir. We are back.

In a big way. In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives. This is kind of star-studded a little bit, man. We got Ricky Williams, NFL player, Heisman Trophy winner. It's just a compassionate choice to allow players all reasonable means to care for themselves. Music stars Marcus King, John Osborne from Brothers Osborne. We have this misunderstanding of what this quote-unquote drug man.

Benny the Butcher. Brent Smith from Shinedown. We got B-Real from Cypress Hill. NHL enforcer Riley Cote. Marine Corvette. MMA fighter Liz Karamush. What we're doing now isn't working and we need to change things. Stories matter and it brings a face to them.

It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for good plus on apple podcast yeah that's a really great question thanks for having me on roland um so the the city's rationale

for refusing to verify has to do with um some of the litigation that has happened around whether or not the referendum itself should be allowed to not only go forward, but also what was the exact date for when those signatures had to be turned in. In the summertime, organizers had actually, or those who had sued the city, had actually gained extended amount of time to file those signatures. The city appealed to the 11th Circuit. We're just talking in your first segment about federal courts intervening. So they've actually been appealing to the 11th Circuit to not just get the time rolled back on when organizers had the time to collect signatures, but even to say that the referendum itself is just not even valid. There was a grant of additional time from the district court here in Georgia,

but the 11th Circuit stayed that original order. So the city is saying that basically because of that stay, the additional time that was given to collect signatures is invalid, and therefore they're not required to actually count these signatures until the 11th Circuit says otherwise. All right. So so on the outside, looking in, it's quite confusing because we've seen other ballot initiatives all around the country. And normally what happens is you get a certain period of time where you have to gather signatures, and then they then go back and check to see if those people are city residents or if they are registered voters or whatever the city or the county or the state's process is. And so do you believe that this is an effort? And first of all, what is y'all's goal? When do you want this to be on the ballot? Well, we have municipal elections happening here in Georgia and various places in the next few weeks in November. So ideally, folks would have liked to have had it on the ballot in November.

It would have been a good boon for turnout. We have some, I believe, a few school board races here in Atlanta and a couple other municipal races. But the goal is to get it on the ballot in March when we would have, we will not have a Democratic primary for president, but we will, there will be, you know, a primary election in March here in Georgia. And so that is the now, the goal, I believe, is to get it on the ballot then. But to your original question or point about it seems kind of confusing from looking on the outside in, you're right. We have these ballot initiative processes that are a really great sign of the health of our democracy, that individuals in their communities can rally with their neighbors and other members in their communities to get initiatives on the ballot for voters to decide.

We've seen successful ballot referendum processes in the last few years and, you know, Amendment 4 in Florida that restored voting rights to thousands of formerly incarcerated folks. That was a ballot initiative process. We just saw last year in Kansas and Michigan expanding access to abortion rights that have been denied to people post-dops. Those were ballot referendum processes we've seen in Missouri and countless other places. Right now, Ohio has a ballot initiative process. And so this is not new in the land of America, right? But what we do see happening here is a very anti-democratic, unfortunately bipartisan effort from the state-controlled Republicans and unfortunately democratic-controlled administration here in

Atlanta to refuse to allow people to have access to this procedure that is used quite frequently around the country by citizens who are, you know, duly able to do this within their rights. And for some reason, they don't want Atlantans to be able to do the same thing. Questions from the panel. kelly you're first sure so when it comes to the this the those who are for it but are still under understanding what the other side is thinking about regarding this issue like what are what's the rationale for actually keeping Cop City around those who aren't cops? Like, have you encountered any Black people or people who would be affected by this decision who are actually for it? I think in terms of the actual, whether the referendum should be

on the ballot, I mean, ultimately the issue is that there was a process that was laid out. Folks have done, I mean, we've been hearing for the past two and a half years or so that people need to follow the process, follow the process. We had folks who were at city council when this decision was first uncovered in the middle of the pandemic. There was multiple hours, like I think over 16 hours of public comment has been made on multiple different occasions. So people have been following the process about this issue and lobbying their elected officials all the way. So now we have this referendum process where 116,000 Atlantans, those who are registered voters, who were registered and eligible to vote in the 2021 mayoral and city council election, 116,000 plus signed on to agree that this needs to be put on the put on the ballot.

That doesn't mean that all one hundred sixteen thousand agree with ultimately canceling the lease. That just means people believe that the democratic process itself needs to move forward. That is more than the seventy eight thousand people who voted in the mayoral runoffs in which allowed Andre Dickens, in which he got fifty thousand votes to become the mayor. So the thing is, that's not so much about whether or not people agree with Cop City or want to move forward. There are some people who agree with Cop City ultimately, but also believe that the democratic

process itself needs to play out. And as someplace that's the cradle of, you know, so many movement activities, we have also seen the resurgence of pro-democracy work in our communities happening here in Georgia over the last several years. The same arguments that we have seen Brian Kemp and other statewide Republicans making against Stacey Abrams and the efforts that she led in 2018 that elected and flipped the Senate in 2020 and that also sent Reverend Wormack back to the Senate in 2022. Those same arguments are now being used by Democratic elected officials, including our mayor, against this referendum. And ultimately, whether people agree or disagree or have different issues, like the referendum itself,

follow the process and it needs to be on the ballot. Michael. So I had a quick question here. I know Mayor Andre Dickens is for what has been dubbed Cop City, this training center. If you could just state briefly, what are some of the reasons why the mayor is for it? And I know there's a lot of opposition to it. What are some of the reasons why others are against this training facility being built and $90 million being spent for it. I mean, I believe, brother, you said it right there, $90 million being put forth without a proper democratic process, right? When we talk about budgets, we talk about, like, spending of the people's resources, the public money that's going into this for something that's ultimately backed by a private entity, the Atlanta Police Foundation. I mean, there needs to be a higher level of scrutiny. And different people have different reasons across this movement for why they object. You have environmentalists who object to many of the issues with the fact that this is

on, you know, forest land. We're supposed to be the city under the trees, and we're decimating forest land to build this, right? You have people who are, you know, good governance and democracy folks like myself personally, who want to see actual process follow. We have seen time and again, overwhelming response from people in the city who have participated in processes. My city councilwoman, my former city councilwoman was the one that introduced this original legislation. She lost her seat in part because people like me found out when folks were going door to door that this was even something that was happening. So the fact that we have not had good transparency and good governance in the decision-making process over the past two and a half years is a part of why people at least want to have a referendum, to have an open public process

so that we can let the people decide. We elect people to go represent us. And when they're not doing that, we have referendums. We have other ways that we can help get decisions made. Now, some people do not agree with relocating the site. They are very diehard against it. And those are conversations that we all need to have as a community moving forward. But at the very most basic level, we have aspects of democratic process that have broken down in the city of Atlanta that are not being followed. And it's Democrats, unfortunately, that are coinciding alongside Republicans to make that happen. All right. Thank you, Matt. I have two questions that are very quick. The first is, how do you envision the opposition and really the conversation around cop city being a model

for going forward as it relates to other potential issues. And what I'm asking specifically is, it seems like here more so than in other instances, you have a nexus of environmental interests and governance issues and justice and militarization questions, all of which are coalescing to have opposition and in some respects, you know, people who are proponents for it. So first, how do you see this as a model going forward in terms of how we address issues that are kind of intersectional in their nature, number one? And then number two, as it relates to the Black people who live around there, has there been conversation of like a Title VI complaint or something related to disparate impact? My understanding that there's supposed to potentially be an effect, a warming effect for a predominantly Black community around Cobb City. Has that been discussed? That is amazing. Your second question, as a member of the community that lives around

the proposed site, no, I don't know that that is actually something that's happening. I don't think we've even had community-wide conversations for those of us in the city of Atlanta. But also to that question, there is an entire population that lives in DeKalb County, an unincorporated area, that have no say in this process at all. And so that is actually something that's a really interesting proposition that you raise. And no, I don't think that has come into any of the conversation as of yet. So the first part about how this could be a model for conversation or even just addressing opposition, I mean, a lot of these problems that we're facing nationwide or in our direct communities are multifaceted, right? They interact with things around the environment, climate change, like you said, justice issues,

economics, and class analysis. But we have to have those abilities to come together and talk through these issues so that if there is something that's going before the city council, and yes, there might be a specific, you know, justice aspect, which has what drawn a lot of people to this, but being able to identify the other ways that it has impact also helps us build broader coalitions. We've seen this in electoral work more broadly when we have, you know, different groups of people coming together to support particular candidates or initiatives, right? And so I think that that broader coalition mindset and being able to see how we can cut across the different work that people are doing to build, you know, consensus around how we can move forward and bring about the change that we all deserve is important.

The other thing, because I think the sister's original question about, like, what about people who might feel that this is something that they need or like the conversations we do need to have these conversations in our community. Right. And I don't think that they're that requesting that the referendum itself be on the ballot is a shutdown. Like that's, that's another area of conversation. That's another area of outreach that needs to happen for whoever is supporting whichever side, right? But at the very least, you know, we need to make sure that when we do have very clear interests of communities that are in question, that we are allowed to have the forums that are available to all of us, regardless of neighborhood socioeconomic status and who

we're donating to, that that can actually be something that we access through the democratic process, as we're allegedly supposed to do as citizens in this country. All right. Noah Chang, we so appreciate it. Thanks a bunch. And we'll keep monitoring this story to see what happens. Thanks a lot. Thank you for having me. Folks, we've come back. Jim Jordan is not going to be the next speaker of the House. Boy, more nuttiness happening on Capitol Hill. But also, when we come back, we'll talk about a case out of Atlanta. Another one of Trump's insurrectionists.

Please guilty. Fannie Willis has another feather in her cap. We'll tell you about that. You're watching Roller Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network. Hatred on the streets, a horrific scene, a white nationalist rally. A lot of times the big economic forces we hear about on the news show up in our lives in small ways. Three or four days a week, I would buy two cups of banana pudding, but the price has gone up. So now I only buy one. The demand curve in action. And that's just one of the things we'll be covering on Everybody's Business from Bloomberg Businessweek. I'm Max

Chavkin. And I'm Stacey Vanek-Smith. Every Friday, we will be diving into the biggest stories in business, taking a look at what's going on, why it matters, and how it shows up in our everyday lives. But guests like Businessweek editor Brad Stone, sports reporter Randall Williams, and consumer spending expert Amanda Mull will take you inside the boardrooms, the backrooms, even the signal chats that make our economy tick. Hey, I want to learn about VeChain.

I want to buy some blockchain or whatever it is that they're doing. So listen to Everybody's Business on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops called this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser told them.

From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multi-billion dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission. Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multi-billion dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season One, Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season One, Taser Incorporated, on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th. Add free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts.

I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Lott. And this is Season 2 of the War on Drugs podcast. We are back. In a big way. In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives. This is kind of star-studded a little bit, man.

We got Ricky Williams, NFL player, Heisman Trophy winner. It's just a compassionate choice to allow players all reasonable means to care for themselves. Music stars Marcus King, John Osborne from Brothers Osborne. We have this misunderstanding of what this quote-unquote drug thing is. Benny the Butcher. Brent Smith from Shinedown.

We got B-Real from Cypress Hill. NHL enforcer Riley Cote. Marine Corvette. MMA fighter Liz Caramouch. What we're doing now isn't working, and we need to change things. Stories matter, and it brings a face to them. It makes it real.

It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. We're about to see the rise of what I call white minority resistance. We have seen white folks in this country who simply cannot tolerate black folks voting. I think what we're seeing is the inevitable result of violent denial.

This is part of American history. Every time that people of color have made progress, whether real or symbolic, there has been what Carol Anderson at Emory University calls white rage as a backlash. This is the wrath of the Proud Boys and the Boogaloo Boys. America, there's going to be more of this. Here's all the Proud Boys guys. This country is getting increasingly racist in its behaviors and its attitudes because of the fear of white people. The fear that they're taking our jobs, they're taking our resources, they're taking our women. This is white fear. On a next A Balanced Life with me, Dr. Jackie, being of service to others is one of the greatest callings in life.

But being there for someone else in their time of crisis is a whole new level. And you have to bring courage, commitment, and strength. On our next show, we meet two real life angels who were thrust in the midst of caregiving and without warning. And he was looking strange and couldn't cut his meat. And it was very odd. And I said, well, what's wrong?

And he says, I think I've had a stroke. And so of course it scared me. And we literally got in the car and he I think I've had a stroke. And so, of course, it scared me. And we literally got in the car and he walked into the hospital on a Thursday. And by Saturday of that same week, he lost all control of his left side. The blessings, the challenges, and the way they maintain their balance, all next on A Balanced Life on Blackstar Network. Hey, what's up, y'all?

I'm Devon Franklin. It is always a pleasure to be in the house. You are watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. Stay right here. So a couple of the people with Donald Trump who were indicted by Fulton County DA Fannie Willis, they wanted an expedited trial. Kenna Chesborough and Sidney Powell. They were like, hey, we want to go to trial.

Fannie Willis said, not a problem. We're good. Let's go. Yesterday, Sidney Powell pled guilty. Today, Kenna Chesborough pled guilty. He pled guilty to a felony count. I tell you what, Matt, these folks were messing around, and now they are pleading guilty.

They're going to have to testify against the other people involved. Trust me. So here you have a number of people indicted. Three have now now that have now played. Here's my advice to the rest of these people. May you better go cut you a deal as fast as possible or otherwise you're going to be last man, last woman standing. First, I want to say about Fannie Willis. I don't know if you know, but you know, happy homecoming to my fellow alumnus of the illustrious Howard University. But this is what we talked about happening, Roland. I knew this was going to happen. And I read about both of their plea deals.

I don't think they explicitly mentioned Mr. Trump. But what I think is especially important for people to realize about this is one of the things that is sacred in the lawyer-client relationship is communication and privilege. So one of the questions I had was how do you pierce that, right, because a lawyer is entitled to advise their client, to give them advice in their interest. But one of the ways that a lawyer can break privilege is if he or she has to respond to accusations about their conduct. So I tell you all that to say that should let people know there's some pretty compelling evidence here against both of these attorneys because they're not normal defendants and that a lot of their communications and involvement in what might otherwise be termed a conspiracy might be privileged. So for both of them to ask for speedy trials and then cut deals, this goes along the lines of what we're talking about on the show and have for many weeks now that people were going to start dropping like flies.

And that's exactly what you're seeing. And obviously, Mr. Trump's team is looking at the evidence here. But if I were representing him on his criminal defense case, this would concern me mightily. Right. Because not only have they cut deals and not only have those deals gotten them out of hot water, and they're the first deals, but their deals both require that they testify truthfully against the other co-conspirators. I don't know what that looks like against Mr. Trump, but the problem is, if I'm a prosecutor, I say, this is not only somebody that he conspired with. This is somebody with whom he conspired, with whom he had the highest level of purport his team, and it would concern me as to the strength of our defense, because now people he's talked to in the most intimate of terms, if you will,

as it relates to the actions, are now going to have to sing like canaries, and that's going to be a big problem for him, I would suspect. I mean, the thing here, Mike, is these are the two leading figures who were in the room when these things were going down. And so what was interesting to me is that they play it. And based upon one story that we saw, the the Trump team was shocked, was absolutely shocked to hear about these plea deals. Well, that that's hilarious right there. But first of all, yes, you know, Fannie Willis is brilliant

and she graduated from Howard University. Now, I didn't graduate from the illustrious Howard University. I graduated from Wayne State University here in Detroit. But Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity Incorporated was founded at Howard University, so I do have H-U in my blood. Now, I said that, pipe down, Kelly. Now, I said that this was going to happen. None of these people are willing to go

to prison for Trump. He's not going to become president again, most likely. He won't be able to give them a pardon because this is a state case, not a federal case, so he can't pardon them here. So you're going to have more of them turning state's witness, taking plea deals. They're not willing to go to prison for Trump. And this is a key piece of the puzzle here, Chesapeake, because he was central to organizing the fake electors, the fake slate of electors plot. And this spread over seven states, including the state of Michigan. OK, so he knows a lot more than a lot of these other people.

And it's going to be a whole lot of them singing. And a lot of people are going to go to prison. I think Trump's going to be convicted in this case as well. So once again, it's important for everybody to understand the reason, the main reason why you have this prosecution is because Fannie Willis was voted into office. Okay. Do you have the right prosecutor voted into office to actually take action against people who are violating the rights of Georgians, especially... A lot of times the big economic forces we hear about on the news show up in our lives in small ways.

Three or four days a week, I would buy two cups of banana pudding. But the price has gone up, so now I only buy one. The demand curve in action. And that's just one of the things we'll be covering on Everybody's Business from Bloomberg Businessweek. I'm Max Chavkin. And I'm Stacey Vanek-Smith. Every Friday, we will be diving into the biggest stories in business, taking a look at what's going on, why it matters, and how it shows up in our everyday lives. But guests like Businessweek editor Brad Stone, sports reporter Randall Williams, and consumer spending expert Amanda

Mull will take you inside the boardrooms, the backrooms, even the signal chats that make our economy tick. Hey, I want to learn about VeChain. I want to buy some blockchain or whatever it is that they're doing. So listen to Everybody's Business on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes.

But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops call this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser told them. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multi-billion dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season 1.

Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute season one, Taser Incorporated on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes one, two, and three on May 21st and episodes four, five, and 6 on June 4th.

Add free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Lott. And this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast. Yes, sir. We are back. In a big way. In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives.

This is kind of star-studded a little bit, man. We got Ricky Williams, NFL player, Heisman Trophy winner. It's just a compassionate choice to allow players all reasonable means to care for themselves. Music stars Marcus King, John Osborne from Brothers Osborne. We have this misunderstanding of what this quote-unquote drug thing is. Benny the Butcher. Brent Smith from Shinedown. We got B-Real from Cypress Hill.

NHL enforcer Riley Cote. Marine Corvette. MMA fighter Liz Karamush. What we're doing now isn't working, and we need to change things. Stories matter, and it brings a face to them. It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real.

Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast or wherever you get your podcast. And to hear episodes one week early and ad free with exclusive content. Subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple podcast. African-Americans in Georgia who voted for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. I can't hear Roland. You got me here? Yeah, you know.

You got another microphone here? Yeah, you know. You got me on this microphone here? All right, folks. So the thing here, Kelly, a lot of these legal analysts and experts were saying, Bonnie Willis, what is she doing? She's being too aggressive. She's not ready for trial in October. Looks like she was right. She's absolutely right.

And if you are a good prosecutor and you have a fabulous team, of course you're going to be ready for trial. Because let's think about it. She had two years' worth of stuff to build on. And if she started from the time it happened, it's been two years. So in my head, that seems like ample amount of time to get ready for a case. So it's not like, oh, the charges were filed and all of a sudden we got to scramble to get a case done. No, that's bad lawyering, frankly. And I think it's the hubris of Trump's team and Trump's cronies team, thinking that, you know, they had absolutely nothing to worry about

for these past two years, even though the writing was on the wall for it, such that they haven't prepped at all. So it really is on them that they're scrambling for these things. And that's probably why you got these deals on the table right now, because they're not ready for trial.

And frankly, I feel like these people know that they did some dumb crap. So all's well that ends well in my book. I think this is fabulous. We're going to talk about Jim Jordan. Man, he just keeps taking L's. You're watching Rolling Mark Unfiltered right here on the Black Star Network,

broadcasting live from Newport, Michigan, back at church in Atlanta, Georgia. Back in a moment. Next, A Balanced Life with me, Dr. Jackie. Being of service to others is one of the greatest callings in life. But being there for someone else in their time of crisis is a whole new level. And you have to bring courage, commitment, and strength. On our next show, we meet two real life angels who were thrust in the midst of caregiving

and without warning. And he was looking strange and couldn't cut his meat. And it was very odd. And I said, well, what's wrong? And he says, I think I've had a stroke. And so, of course, it scared me. And we literally got in the car and he walked into the hospital on a Thursday.

And by Saturday of that same week, he lost all control of his left side. The blessings, the challenges, and the way they maintain their balance, all next on A Balanced life on Black Star Network. I'm Deborah Owens, America's Wealth Coach and host of Get Wealthy. Let me hit you with a few numbers. African-Americans spend nine times the amount on ethnic beauty products, and yet only own 1% of the beauty supply stores. It's an $18 billion industry.

On the next Get Wealthy, you're gonna learn and hear from a woman who's turning this obstacle into an opportunity. We literally take you from A to Z on all of the things, step by step, you need to have in place to open and run a very successful beauty supply store. That's right here with me, Deborah Owens, host of Get Wealthy, only on Black Star Network. Bruce Smith, creator and executive producer of The Proud Family, Louder and Prouder. You're watching Roland Martin on Tilted.

All right, folks, we're on Capitol Hill. Republicans, again, can't pick a speaker of the House. This is what happened when Ohio Congressman Jim Jordan forced a third vote to try to make him the speaker. The tellers agree in their tally that the total number of votes cast is 429, of which the Honorable Jim Jordan of the state of Ohio has received 194. The Honorable Hakeem Jeffries of the state of New York has received 210. The Honorable Patrick McHenry of the state of North Carolina has received six. All right, the House will come to order. The House will come to order.

The Honorable Byron Donalds of the state of Florida has received two. The Honorable Tom Emmer of the state of Minnesota has received one. Lee Zeldin of the state of New York has received four. The Honorable Steve Scalise of the state of Louisiana has received eight. The Honorable Mike Garcia of the state of California has received eight. The Honorable Mike Garcia of the state of California has received one. The Honorable Kevin McCarthy of the state of California has received two. The Honorable Bruce Westerman of the state of Arkansas has received one. No person having received a majority of the whole number of votes cast by surname a speaker has not been elected. Pursuant to clause 12a of rule

one the chair declares the house in 12A of Rule 1, the chair declares the House in recess, subject to the call of the chair. These people literally do not know what they're doing. Now, here's what's crazy, y'all. Jim Jordan called a news conference for 8 o'clock this morning. Now, last night, 20 of these Republicans told him to his face, say, bro, you're not going to be the speaker. We are not voting for you. But he was like, okay, I'm still going to push it.

And he kept telling everybody, I'm going to be the next speaker. So each vote they've had, he's lost more votes. This, to me, Kelly, is just beyond hilarious. So let's see. They're rejecting a temporary deal with McHenry. They have rejected McCarthy, rejected Scalise, rejected Jordan. Hey, what are they going to do now? This is, again, these are people who are totally dysfunctional.

It would be funny. Like, if this were happening in a vacuum, I would be guffawing right now. This would look exactly like a comedy show. It looks like a sketch from like early days of SNL where just, you know, chaos ensues, right? But the fact of the matter is people are dying. Bills need to be paid and Congress needs to function. None of those things are happening because of the chaos of one party, one party. And that is what's frustrating me. Like, yes, in a vacuum, this is funny.

I have to admit that I howled laughing when McHenry angrily did the gavel like it was the hammer of Thor the first time. Like, that was funny to me. But it's getting even more ridiculous than it was that day because people are putting themselves over the people that they represent. And that is just frustrating. It is unfortunately expected now

of the Republican Party, but it is still frustrating nonetheless. And like I say, there's a war in Israel right now that apparently we got to fund. There's a war in Ukraine that we got to fund. Guess who holds those purse strings? House of Congress, like House of Representatives, hold those purse strings and nothing can be done. Oh, by the way, we still have a government shutdown that could be happening within the month because all of this stuff is happening and nobody's getting anything done. So yes, it's funny, but all of these things that I just listed out is still happening in the background and it's funny, but all of these things that I just listed out is still happening in the background and it's still going to happen whether we have a speaker or not.

And the chaos that is going to be compounded on top of the chaos that we already have, all this is going to do is affect the you got hardcore MAGA right wingers trying to do trying to control this whole process. That's what you're seeing right here. Point blank. And Democrats are sitting here saying, please, by all means, be my guest and act a fool. Yeah, you're right. And I'm sorry to interrupt you, but I was I was chomping at the bit to answer. This is not only what you have when you have MAGA Republicans doing that. This is what you have when they think there is political capital to play these kinds of games. I mean, Kelly hit the nail on the head. We have serious issues that need to be resolved. And what we're seeing is the extension of the political theater that has become part and parcel, not only with MAGA Republicans, but with a lot of politicians in general. At the end of the

day, I don't get to not pay my student loans because I can't get it together because the government is coming to collect. So the House does not get to not do its work because they can't stop playing political theater games. I, for one, wanted Jim Jordan to become the House speaker because I think it would have just been a new level of idiocy and it would have just shown how bad and how dysfunctional Congress can be, especially those who are obstinate as a matter of political identity. Not obstinate because they're really against the substantive bill, but obstinate because they want to grind the whole process to a halt. But the part of this that is frustrating is that as an American who's watching the prices go up at the grocery store and who has concerns for their children's education and all kinds of things that are funded by Congress, they're playing games in D.C. while the rest of us try to figure out how to live our lives, right? And a lot of that is incidental to what they do in terms of policy. So, I mean, it's inherent. They're going to cast

votes and you're going to have this process, but it's been hijacked by those MAGA Republicans and those seeking their own political will and to cement their political futures. And we hang in the balance of that. And I'm hoping that, you know, they get over themselves and get a speaker so they can get the work that is necessary to be done, done. And very simple, Michael. I got to remind people how we vote in these congressional races determines who controls the House, Republicans or Democrats. So if you don't like what's going on here, throw those bums out next November. Absolutely. And this is something that I warn people about during the 2022 midterm elections when Republicans took back control of the House, because during the first two years of

the Trump administration, there were three government shutdowns and Republicans controlled the House, the Senate and the White House. These people cannot govern. It's easy when you're in the minority just to say no to everything and vote against bills that are beneficial to everyday Americans. But when you actually have to govern, you have to be able to pass bills. Jim Jordan has not passed a single bill that he has sponsored in 16 years that he's been in the House of Representatives. He is a chaos agent. He was instrumental in organizing the coup to overthrow the government. So this is more nonsense. And when we look at Matt Gaetz now,

you know, have a lot of Republicans who are mad at Matt Gaetz. And basically what Matt Gaetz did was he jumped out of an airplane and is reading the instructions on how to use the parachute on the way down. They didn't have a backup strategy on this, okay? Kelly's correct.

November 17th, the government can shut down. And it's really important for us to understand how to protect ourselves from crazy people like this. We have to vote them out of office. The difference between Hakeem Jeffries being Speaker of the House and Jim Jordan or Steve Scalise or any of these other Republicans, or Kevin McCarthy, is 7,000 votes in a handful of House districts. They did a recount. Lauren Boebert only won by 546 votes in Colorado. OK?

So it's like this is doable. OK? But you can't push your issues that you say that you want going back to the conversation we had last week, Roland. All these people saying we want this, this, and this. Ain't never read the U.S. Constitution. Don't know how to get bills passed, okay? You can't say you want this, but you don't vote for people who want what you want. So elections impact every aspect of our lives. We have to do better. Absolutely. All right. Kelly, Michael, Matt, I certainly appreciate y'all joining us on today's show. Thank you so very much.

Folks, when we come back, we will share with you one-on-one interview I did with one of the gospel artists performing right behind me here in Atlanta at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church as part of McDonald's Inspiration, Celebration, and Gospel Tour. That is next right here on the Black Star Network. We talk about blackness and what happens in black. A lot of times the big economic forces we hear about on the news show up in our lives in small ways. Three or four days a week, I would buy two cups of banana pudding. But the price has gone up, so now I only buy one. The demand curve in action. And that's just one of the things we'll be covering on Everybody's Business from Bloomberg Businessweek.

I'm Max Chavkin. And I'm Stacey Vanek-Smith. Every Friday, we will be diving into the biggest stories in business, taking a look at what's going on, why it matters, and how it shows up in our everyday lives. But guests like Business Week editor Brad Stone, sports reporter Randall Williams, and consumer spending expert Amanda Mull will take you inside the boardrooms, the backrooms, even the signal chats that make our economy tick. Hey, I want to learn about VeChain. I want to buy some blockchain or whatever it is that they're doing. So listen to Everybody's Business on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun?

Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops called this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser told them. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multi-billion dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission.

This is Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated, on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st, and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th. Ad-free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Lott. And this is Season 2 of the War on Drugs podcast. We are back. In a big way.

In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives. This is kind of star-studded a little bit, man. We got Ricky Williams, NFL player, Heisman Trophy winner. It's just a compassionate choice to allow players all reasonable means to care for themselves. Music stars Marcus King, John Osborne from Brothers Osborne. We have this misunderstanding

of what this quote-unquote drug thing is. Benny the Butcher. Brent Smith from Shinedown. Got B-Real from Cypress Hill. NHL enforcer Riley Cote. Marine Corvette. MMA fighter Liz Karamush. What we're doing now isn't working and we need to change things.

Stories matter and it brings a face to them. It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts.

Culture. We're about covering these things that matter to us, speaking to our issues and concerns. This is a genuine people-powered movement. A lot of stuff that we're not getting, You get it. And you spread the word. We wish to plead our own cause to long have others spoken for us. We cannot tell our

own story if we can't pay for it. This is about covering us. Invest in Black-owned media. Your dollars matter. We don't have to keep asking them to cover our stuff. So please support us in what we do, folks. We want to hit 2,000 people, $50 this month, rates $100,000. We're behind $100,000, so we want to hit that. Y'all money makes this possible. Checks and money orders go to

P.O. Box 57196, Washington, D.C., 20037-0196. The Cash app is Dollar Sign RM Unfiltered. PayPal is R Martin Unfiltered. Venmo is RM Unfiltered. Zelle is Roland at RolandSMartin.com. I'm Deborah Owens, America's Wealth Coach and host of Get Wealthy. Let me hit you with a few numbers. African-Americans spend nine times on ethnic beauty products and yet only own 1% of the beauty supply stores. It's an $18 billion industry. On the next Get Wealthy, you're going to learn and hear from a woman who's turning this obstacle into an opportunity. We literally take you from A to Z

on all of the things, step-by-step, you need to have in place to open and run a very successful beauty supply store. That's right here with me, Deborah Owens, host of Get Wealthy, only on Blackstar Network. Peace, I'm Faraji Muhammad, host of The Culture. And brothers, we need to talk. There's been much discussion about the state

of the black man in our community, whether it's in politics, education, or in the home. My brothers, we are struggling to lead the way, which is why The Culture will be hosting the Black Men's Summit, where we'll be redefining and celebrating Black manhood. This special series will kick off on the 28th anniversary of the historic Million Man March on Monday, October the 16th at 4 p.m. Eastern Time. I'll be talking to some of Black America's most prolific, dynamic, thought-provoking Black men activists, scholars, and leaders about our role, our power, and our future.

So tune in and join the conversation as an online culture crew member for the Culture's Black Men Summit, redefining and celebrating Black manhood. Starting Monday, October 16th through Friday, October 20th, 4 p.m. Eastern Time each day, right here, exclusively here on the Black Star Network. Me, Sherri Shebritt. I'm Tammy Roman. I'm Dr. Robin B., pharmacist and fitness coach, and you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. All right, folks, welcome back to the Black Star Network.

We are live here at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Lithonia, Georgia, where McDonald's is holding their fourth stop on their Inspiration Celebration Gospel Tour. And so as we are watching this, Tim Bowman Jr. is on stage right now. And so we were previously in Chicago and Detroit. This tour stopped in Philadelphia. They're here in Atlanta. Then they'll be next in Dallas and then Jackson, Mississippi. And so we had an opportunity to sit down with all of the artists, talk to them about their life, their careers. And Mike Teasey is a young brother who is a rapper, a dancer, and so he has a whole different lane he operates in when it comes to gospel music.

And so here is our conversation. Doing good, man. How you doing? All good. You're on this McDonald's tour. Tell me about the opportunity to mix it up with these favorite artists. Listen, man, this is like a group of my favorite artists, which is crazy. So to be on the same show along with them,

it speaks volumes to what God is doing right now in this season for my life, for my music ministry. So I'm just excited. It's gonna be dope. When did you make the switch, if you will, or decide, you know what, this is what I want to do. This is where I want to go. So I was in college

and I got a call that one of my friends, we were the co-captains of the basketball team, and I got a call that he was shot and killed. Wow. And he's the one that gave me the name. I'm actually in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. So that's where I graduated high school. But I was in college in Charlotte. And so I got the call, But I was in college in Charlotte.

And so I got the call and I was like, you know what, tomorrow is in premise. You know? And at the time I was still dancing. I have a huge background in dance. Like that's where my main focus was. But I always had a passion for music. And out of that it kind of just birthed this,

what I'm doing now as far as like rapping and singing and dancing and bringing it all together for the kingdom. So you get this call. Yeah. And look, the reality is like a lot of young folks, you think you live forever. Right. And you just sort of just go about doing whatever.

Exactly. And then when you get that call, then that's when you go, wait a minute, I got to make a decision and commit to something. Exactly. Exactly. So that's exactly what I did. So matter of fact, it was around New Year's. It was a New Year's Eve service and where I decided to rededicate my life to God. And so, you know, I walked up after the sermons went forth and they started praying for people. And I was like, you know what, let me just go ahead and rededicate my life to God right now. Like, get it right now and just stick to it.

But how do you deal with the folks who say that what you do and what you bring to gospel, that ain't gospel. Right. I get that. There you go. Like, you hear it. Yeah. I get that a lot. And so, for me, it's been a lot of either blocking, deleting, stuff like that because we're in a social media age.

So you get a lot of, you know, different people, different audiences, different backgrounds. A lot of people think it's taboo to do Christian hip hop still to this day. People have been doing it for years. You know what I'm saying? So I've had deacons in our church that was trying to rap and stuff like that. It wasn't all that good. But they did it. You know, they thought that that was a way to reach the youth.

And now I'm doing the same thing. It's just like a pass-down type thing. So every year, every generation, every new person that's coming up is going to be doing the same thing as far as spreading the gospel to different people in a new way. Well, I mean, the reality is, I mean, if you study the history of music, especially the history of gospel, what is now considered traditional

was radical. I mean, you can I mean, here we are in Chicago. It wasn't like folks were going, oh, this new Tommy Dorsey sound. Thomas Dorsey sound is off the chain.

It was like, what is he doing? And then, as you just keep going, when the Hawkins family did Oh Happy Day, what is wrong? And you listen to Oh Happy Day now, you're going, wow, what are they tripping? Exactly. This seems normal.

Exactly. And so to me, that's always the crazy thing, as opposed to, okay, how do you use music to reach folks, to touch folks? Because you have to go beyond the borders of the church. Exactly. That's facts beyond the four walls. Yeah.

And that's where we at now. And so now when you meet other artists, so have you had other folks who say, you know what? Now I now can do that. I'm more comfortable because I see you doing it. Exactly. So I've actually gotten several messages from different people just saying like, yo, you inspire me. And I'm like,

me? Like I'm just trying to be obedient to what God had me doing right now. And it's definitely a blessing. You know what I'm saying? It's a test to who I am in Christ, who I am as a believer. You know what I'm saying? And just being that willing vessel. You know what I'm saying? To let test to who I am in Christ who I am as a believer You know I'm saying and just being that willing vessel You know I'm saying so let somebody else know you could do it too. I knew they really get mad with the dancing part listen

so I was raising the church and We used to dance on Youth Sunday right you dance like Todd tribute Kirk Franklin stuff right that and It was taboo to listen to Kirk Franklin because, you know, he jumped on chairs and tables doing whatever he wanted to do because he was radical. When Stomp came out, how dare you use that sound? And so that's where it kind of started. So I kind of got accustomed to that. You know, people are not going to be okay with everything I do. But as long as God is okay with it, I'm okay with it.

Because Kirk will be on stage and be doing James Brown moves. Facts, yeah. I think I've seen Kirk do every move except the split. I think he's doing all the James Brown except the split. Yeah, he got to do that next. He got to do that next. If he don't, I'm going to beat him to it.

Yeah. Have you and he ever had a conversation? So we've actually met. What's crazy is I was supposed to open for him in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, at the Dash Stadium. That's our baseball team. Right. And it was crazy.

Raining, all that stuff. So he's still performing. I was like, yo, I'm about to go next, like right after him. Didn't work out. The stage that they had me on was a whole different stage somewhere else. Wow! I thought I was on that stage. So my high hopes was crashed. So Kirk was on the main stage. He was on the main stage. I didn't even know

there was different stages. And they had you on the side stage. That was rained on, puddles everywhere. I was like, I'm gonna bust my face. And at that time, I was still doing flips and stuff. I was still doing every now and then. But yeah, I was like, as part of my set, I would do a backflip, breakdance, whatever. And I was like, I can't do this on the stage. Like, this is wet.

There's puddles everywhere. I might break my neck today. I don't know. You remember at the Super Bowl, Prince had them two dancers out there in them six-inch heels. That's crazy. And they were getting it in in the rain. Yeah, I ain't doing that. That's different.

That was pepper rain that night. I ain't doing that. But, nah, yeah. That was definitely crazy. But then I got a chance to meet him in Greensboro, North Carolina. Right. He's, like, maybe right under my shoulder. Ah! Ah!

Okay, that was, like, some quick shade right there. Listen, he's one of my favorite gospel artists of all time. That was some quick shade. But, nah, nah, nah. So he was, like, right under my shoulder. So he grabbed my shoulder, and he was like, you look familiar. And I was like, oh, for real? He was like, yeah, I don't know where you're from.

And I was like, probably from Winston-Salem. I was supposed to open for you, whatever. So, yeah, that was a dope meeting for sure. Just to, you know, talk to him and take a picture with him. Just a little bit of time that we had. So that was dope. Got you. So you haven't had an opportunity.

Not to dance or open for him, not yet. Really? Not yet, because, you know, it's probably what you say, so. Got you. Yeah. So you ain't had your people hit him? You ain't had your, like, y'all? We working on it.

We working on it. Huh? We working on it. What did y'all do? Y'all send him a letter or something? I have no idea, but we're going to figure it out. How about that? We're going to figure it out.

Matter of fact, I did a video to, like, kind of honor him and I did a remake of his song revolution and I caught it the new revolution So I did a remake of the whole video the whole nine had the mic the little silver background. I did everything He still ain't seen it yet. So we don't figure that out Yeah, you said it went viral it went viral on tick-tock Instagram every hole up was the vid is it on your Instagram? It's on my Instagram. You seen it? And it went viral. It went viral on TikTok, Instagram, everything. Hold up. What's the video? Is it on your Instagram? It's on my Instagram. Hold up. What's this? It's on YouTube, everywhere.

Hold up. Mike Teezy, the new revolution. It's awesome. So you did a whole? The whole nine. Oh, Lord. The white jacket, the bubble coat with the goggles on the forehead. Where is this video?

Where is it? Everything. Where'd you do that video? It's far. It's a long time ago. Where'd you do that video? Maybe a couple years ago. Man.

All that, and he ain't... Come on, you got... He ain't seen it yet. Ty Tribute, I sent it to him. He saw it. He was like, man, this is fire, but he ain't sent it to me. That's cold. But it's going to happen. It's going to happen. That's cold. I don't understand. I don't understand what

people doing, what they're not doing, what's going on. It's going to happen. So you did the whole— Whole nine. As if you were making a whole new video or something. Exactly. Had the dancers in there, everything.

I think that's cold-blooded. A lot of times the big economic forces we hear about on the news show up in our lives in small ways. Three or four days a week, I would buy two cups of banana pudding. But the price has gone up, so now I only buy one. The demand curve in action. And that's just one of the things we'll be covering on Everybody's Business from Bloomberg Businessweek. I'm Max Chavkin. And I'm Stacey Vanek-Smith. Every Friday,

we will be diving into the biggest stories in business, taking a look at what's going on, why it matters, and how it shows up in our everyday lives. But guests like Businessweek editor Brad Stone, sports reporter Randall Williams, and consumer spending expert Amanda Mull will take you inside the boardrooms, the backrooms, even the signal chats that make our economy tick. Hey, I want to learn about VeChain. I want to buy some blockchain or whatever it is that they're doing. So listen to Everybody's Business on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes.

But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops call this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser told them. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multi-billion dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season 1.

Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated, on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th. Ad-free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I'm Clayton English.

I'm Greg Glod. And this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast. We are back. In a big way. In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives. This is kind of star-studded

a little bit, man. We got Ricky Williams, NFL player, Heisman Trophy winner. It's just a compassionate choice to allow players all reasonable means to care for themselves. Music stars Marcus King, John Osborne from Brothers Osborne. We have this misunderstanding of what this quote-unquote drug man. Benny the Butcher.

Brent Smith from Shinedown. We got B-Real from Cypress Hill. NHL enforcer Riley Cote. Marine Corvette. MMA fighter Liz Karamush. We'll see you next time. Podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. Just cold-blooded. And so everybody else, he ain't even tapped on. He ain't seen it yet. He ain't even. What was that,'t seen it yet. He ain't even.

What was that, two, three years ago? Two years ago. At least two years ago. Yeah, yeah, you're going to have to tell your people. You're going to have to tell your people. For sure. Y'all got to do better. Yes, sir.

You got to tell them they got to do better. Yeah. All right. Hold on one second. Let me see if he answered his phone. I don't know what he's doing. This don't make no sense. This don't make no sense. This don't make no sense.

You did a video two, three years ago, and the brother ain't seen it. He ain't even comment on it. Okay. I don't want to do this here. Kirk. I'm sitting here in Chicago, bro, and I'm doing these interviews for the McDonald Gospel concert tour. And I'm talking to a young brother right here

who said he was supposed to dance on the stage with you, but it rained. But then he said he did his whole music... I can't tell it. Mike Teasy. Mike. And so he's going to tell you, Kirk,

he did a whole video for you. He's like, man, I did a whole video. It went viral. Man, the brother ain't even, he ain't even give me a heart, a like, or nothing. So I said, I said, but did you send to him? He said, send the Thai tribute. Everybody show me some love. He said, Kirk ain't said nothing.

I said, that ain't how we do it in Texas. I said, so I got to call Kirk right now, and we got to rectify this situation. Okay? Okay, so, yeah, go ahead. Put your clothes on. So I got to call Kirk right now, and we got to rectify the situation. Okay? Okay, so go ahead. Put your clothes on. Put your clothes on. Kirk in the bathroom.

I don't know. Oh, man. He's about to brush his teeth. I can see his electronic toothbrush right here. So you see how we roll. Yeah. That, yeah. That's dope. Where's he at?

I'm about to hand him the phone. You like, where he at? You ain't even, you ain't even the picture. All right, here we go. All right, now you can dial. What's going on, sir? Man, I am so sorry, kid. It's all good.

It's all good. I mean, I didn't mean nothing by that, man. And of course, you're a good guy. I mean, I'm not going to lie. It's all good. It's all good I mean, I'm not gonna lie. It's definitely fire. I did you challenge to I did you challenge that John went viral to He ain't seen it It's all good I'll DM it to you right now. I Appreciate that yes, sir Now I know you got millions and millions of you know people that's probably hitting you every day but uh I'm going to send you.

Okay. Roll in the text and do it. All right. Say it again. I got you. All right, King. All right. All right, Kirk.

All right. That's my brother. Roll the Martin. Talk to you later. All right, my brother. Be well. Peace. That was dope.

That was dope. That's crazy. So you're talking about the backflips and everything like that. Yeah, backflips, yeah. But here's why I don't understand why people trip on it. I'll listen to one of William Murphy's songs, and he goes, did they just do a backflip? That's what the praise dancers do.

So why do people trip when you do it? But literally praise dancers doing it. Yeah. I think what's crazy is like. Maybe you put on a leotard or tutu. No, I ain't doing that. doing it. Yeah. I think what's crazy is like. Maybe you put on a leotard or tutu. Nah, I ain't doing that. And it's fire. Nah, I ain't doing that.

What's crazy is like my dad had a background in dancing too. Okay. And so when he got saved and rededicated his life, he felt that that was like a sin for him. To dance. To dance. So when I was coming up, dancing was my thing. Well, we literally have praise dancers.

Dancing was my thing. And he was praise dancers. Dancing was my thing. And he was like, son, you ain't doing that, da-da-da-da. But so what a lot of people don't know is I've been paralyzed twice in my life. At the age of seven, I was run over by a drunk driver. My legs were twisted the opposite way. The doctor said I would never walk again. But God healed me in 20 minutes like that. Wow.

No surgery, no nothing. God just healed me. So I'm doing flips out the hospital. Oh, yeah. Oh, absolutely. I'm a kid. I'm seven years old. I'm not even.

God damn, he was going to be paralyzed. You know? So we out the hospital. Oh, yeah. I'm a kid. I'm seven years old. We about to flip. So from that moment on, I've still been dancing, still been flipping. And then in 2005, I was in a bad car accident. My lumbar, too, was just below your back. It was snapped. It was broken. You could see where the bones were laying on top of each other. And the doctors tell me again, I'd be paralyzed for the rest of my life.

I'd never walk again. But in the second x-ray, you see where the bones came back together. The same night, God healed me just like that. And so I'm like... The first x-ray, you literally see... You could see the bones laying on top of each other. The first x-ray. So two or three hours

go by, they switch shifts. They got a new doctor to come in. They was like, you might have to take another look. Now, did you re-indicate your life before that or after that? This was after. This was after. Oh, yeah. I was about to say. I was about to say. It was after, yeah.

I'm like. Because 2005, I was still in high school. So, yeah. Yeah, that was crazy. So, you could see where the bones were laying on top of each other. And then the next doctor comes in. They were like, you might have to take another look. You ain't going to stop there.

Yeah, I can't. So, my dad was like, he was like, son, I don't get it. You need to stop doing this. I was like, dad, listen. God healed me. This is how I'm praising. This is how I'm showing like what he's done for me in my life. He was like, you know what? I'm quiet. Say less. Exactly. You got a point. He couldn't say nothing else.

You got a point. He couldn't say nothing else. So after that day, he's been in full support. See, what sort of drives me crazy is, first of all, when you see people praise dancing, when you see them sitting there clapping their footots, thumping their feet, running around, I'm trying to figure out that ain't that. I mean, hey, you know track, stop while you're running around the church. Right, right, right. I've seen people literally just running. They be running, yeah.

They got some speed. But I just don't get why. I think what bothers me the most is when people are so, they have so many constraints and they want to, really what they're doing is they're suppressing the Holy Spirit. Because see, here's what I don't understand. I was joking with another artist about this here that we talked to.

I said, look, I was born and raised Catholic, so we know scripture. So I don't know which one it is. But all I do know is David danced. Right. So I'm just trying to understand. Folk tripping. Folk tripping.

He definitely danced, for sure. So what do you think David was doing? I have no idea. What, think he was doing two steps have no idea. What, you think he was doing a two-step? I mean, I don't understand. That's what, again, that's what trips me out when people, I remember there was a point when, oh, they didn't, oh, no, you have guitars and drums and all that.

Yeah, drums was good. You like, uh, did they play music, play instruments? Tambourines, all that. I just, that's probably the one that drives me crazy the most. Yeah. Tambourines, all of that. I just, that's probably the one that drives me crazy the most. When folk really wanna put constraints on the Holy Spirit. First of all, it ain't like twerking is going on. I mean, there are limitations.

There are limitations. There are limitations in dance. But my goodness, it's not, to me it's, I just think some people are just so, so hardcore. And then they end up turning people away. Exactly. Exactly. I experienced that even like in multiple churches.

You know, North Carolina is known for a ton of churches. Right. So I've performed in almost, almost every church in, you know, the triad area. And this one ministry I went in and I had a hat on and it said Jesus on it. And I guess they thought I was just somebody from the outside, but I was actually an artist that was booked to perform at this church, at this event. And the guy was like, you can come in here with that hat on. I was like, it say Jesus.

Like at that time. I'm just saying. The hat said Jesus. It don't say Panthers or the Hornets. Right. It say Jesus. It say Jesus. And that time, too, I was young, just getting started in the music and stuff.

I was like, yo, this is my covering. Like, this is how I know that, you know, God is the first thing they're going to see. And they was like, you got to take your hat off. I was like, you know what? All right, bet. So I went in and performed, and he couldn't say nothing else. He had to come to me and apologize because the Holy Spirit fell in that place. It fell.

My passion, he was in Redwood, Douglas West. They had a meeting of a, I forgot what church they were at. It was a pastoral meeting. And so they're sitting in the meeting, and I forget what it was about, because he taught about this in a sermon. And he said, oh, I think there was a point when they were about to pray. He said, hold up. He said, before we start praying, he said, oh, I think that was a point when they were about to pray. He said, hold up. He said, before we start praying,

he said, you know, we need to address something before we pray. He said, when I walked into this church, he said, y'all got a sign on the wall that says, come as you are. He said,

that's real. But if a homeless woman walked in here with some shorts on, pushing a baby in a stroller, y'all would deny. I think it was come as you are, but they also had rules. I know what it was. It was come as you are, but they had rules that women could not wear pants. And he said, I got a problem with come as you are. Right. And your rules on what women can wear.

That's crazy. And all the pastors kind of like, uh. He's like, so, he said, either you're going to take the sign down. Right. He said, or you're going to change your rules. Thanks. And I think that sort of speaks to that right there. Exactly. Yeah.

Now, have you had some folks also, like some artists have rioters, they're like, look, you can't do this, this, this, this. And then you kind of like, well, he ain't going to have no showroom. Right. I haven't turned them away because I feel like once people actually witness, you know what I'm saying, my ministry, if you will.

Oh, so when they gave you the rules, you go, okay, say less. Okay. And then I still do my thing. And when you go out there, you start flipping and stuff. Exactly. And then you go, see. Yeah, exactly. Because it's like when people hear my story and then they see what God has done for me, it's a difference.

Right. But when they just already perceive an idea and like, yo, he's just dancing, he's trying to show off, he's flipping, he's trying to show off. Nah, like this is how I glorify God. Like this is my way of doing it. Let me do that. You know, I don't want to put restraints on how I glorify God. Right. Absolutely. Absolutely. And again, if it's doing what it's supposed to do, if it's reaching the next generation, if it's touching them, if it's doing what it's supposed to do, if it's reaching the next generation, if it's touching them, if it's empowering them, well, that's exactly what you were supposed to do.

Exactly. Exactly. Well, I just, again, I'm a perp. Look, he didn't work with me. He always like, he said, are there no rules you don't break? He calls me a habitual line crosser. Because, you know, when somebody say, you can't do this, and I go, just say a thing. Okay.

Still cross that one. Okay. And then I'm going to go ahead and do it. So, I mean, I really don't, like, I really do not care. That's a nice term, habitual line crosser. A habitual line crosser. That's dope. And you agreeitual line crosser. Yeah, a habitual line crosser. That's dope. And you agree with him.

You're like, oh, sure. Yeah. Sure. So you know when I go out there, you know exactly what's going to happen. We leaping on the line. And I dare you try to walk out here. Exactly. It'll stop me because you're going to then deal with the crowd.

Exactly. And then it's going to be a problem. Exactly. There you go. So maybe the next catch you should get is habitual line crosser. Habitual. Say less. I'm going to get my designer to work a problem. There you go. So maybe the next hat you should get is habitual line crosser. Say less. I'm going to get my designer to work on that. Habitual line crosser in the name of Jesus.

That's what it should be. That's the next hat that you should get. In the name of Jesus. In the name of Jesus. When you throw Jesus on, Yeah, it's good. It's going to be hard for them to That's facts. It's going to be hard for them to argue. That's facts.

It's sort of like a bad preacher, okay, who is horrible at giving a sermon. And I know one right now. Oh, man. And all of his sermons bad. But he going to end every sermon. He going to go to the cross. Every one. Because if you go to the cross, it's a guaranteed shot. You can't go wrong with the cross.

I don't care how bad the sermon is. Black people are going to automatically give you a guaranteed shot. The whole sermon is awful. I mean, awful. That's crazy. I know one preacher. Again, I ain't going to name him. So, look.

My wife will tell you who they minister. When I'm doing sermon notes and you ain't going to name them. So, look, my wife will tell you who they minister. Like, when I'm doing sermon notes and you ain't saying nothing, it's going to have a date, the church, the name of the pastor, the title of the sermon, the scripture, and ain't nothing else. Because you ain't said nothing for me to want to write down. That makes sense. And she look over and she see. Dang.

She go, you ain't filled in the sermon. I'm like, nope. And then I sit there and I'm like, he going to go to the cross. And sure enough, that's what he do. On Friday. That's crazy. But on Sunday morning. See, that's the only shout he gets in the whole sermon.

That's crazy. That's what they going to do. That's crazy. It's a guaranteed shout. That's crazy. It's a guaranteed shout. That's real. It's a guaranteed shout. For sure. It's going to always happen.

And they give it to him and you're like... You got to be okay with it. Right. That's it. So that's as you hit them with. So last question for you. Yes, sir. What city for you really feels what you do?

Like, when you travel, like, what place they like, yo, I don't care who I'm, we got to go see him. Listen, to point out one city is tough because everyone shows love. But I was just in Houston. It was hot, over 100 degrees outside. It was a festival. I'm born and raised there. Six people passed out. You said 100 degrees.

Okay, that's April. Listen, it was like 100 and at least 10. It felt like maybe 20. I don't know. It was hot. It was hot. It hit the highest. No, it tied the highest.

It was 109. I know. Yeah, it was hot. Right. But they was out there singing their lungs out, jumping around. There you go. It was a crowd of people. I'm like, yo, it's too hot. Get away from me type deal.

They was loving it. I said, well, praise God. We ain't worried about heat. That's crazy. Wear your hat. Put on sunscreen. Drink some water. That's all you got to do.

I think they lost the water. They didn't drink the water because people was passing out. See, there you go. Right there. It was dehydrating. It was dehydrating. Yeah, but it was awesome, though. It was dope.

Okay. All right. They used to have. Okay. All right would dehydrate. But it was awesome, though. Okay. Actually, here's the last question. Okay, so blame this on Brie Babineau. So, I talked to her, and in the midst of our conversation, I made a reference to the Commodores and Zoom. And she had no idea what I was talking about.

Okay. One, are you familiar with the Commodores song, Zoom? I have to hear it, but I know the name. Okay, at least you know the name. I know the name. She didn't know the name. I said Lana Richards. She thought I said Little Richard. I did. That's crazy. I'm going to need you to pull aside.

Okay. Okay. Then I threw a second name out. She had no idea. And then that's when I took a black card. And I told her right now, it's in review status. And the committee is assessing whether you get it back. Okay. Okay. So I'm going to throw this name out.

Okay. Jeffrey Osborne. I heard the name. Can't think of a song. You can't think of a song? Can't think of a song. But you heard the name? I heard the name.

She didn't even know what LTD was. That was the group he was in. What did she say? Larry, Tom, and Dick? That was what she called them in the group? That's what she called LTD. I'm telling you. Larry Tom, Dick Harry.

Trade up. That was literally. That's crazy. Right, right. She had no idea. But then when I played Holdin' On, then she knew. OK. Oh, and I heard that song like too late.

Too late. Too late. The committee is meeting, and we're assessing song like too late. Too late. Too late. The committee is meeting and we're assessing. No, it's in the court. Yes. Dang. Yeah, but she hadn't even heard of the names. See, I've heard the names, yeah.

She even said Jeffrey Osborne could not be black. His last name was Osborne. Oh, what? So I'm gonna need you to talk to your fellow young golfers. Yeah, that's crazy. Cause she, Lord, she needs some help. Man. Right. She may have been sheltered, too. Like, I've experienced that, too, growing up.

So, benefit of the doubt. But she out. Y'all out. So y'all can't keep using that shelter stuff. Dang. I mean, y'all gotta play catch-up. So I'm gonna need y'all. I'm gonna go do some research, too. Yeah, I'm gonna need you, like,

go to Apple Music, Spotify. But at least you know their names. I heard their names. She didn't know their names. She literally thought I said Lil Rich. I got you. Good luck with the tour, bro. Thank you.

I appreciate it. Yes, sir. Thank you.. Thank you. A lot of times, big economic forces show up in our lives in small ways. Four days a week, I would buy two cups of banana pudding. But the price has gone up, so now I only buy one. Small but important ways. Four days a week, I would buy two cups of banana pudding. But the price has gone up, so now I only buy one. Small but important ways. From tech billionaires to the bond market to, yeah, banana pudding. If it's happening in business, our new podcast is on it. I'm Max Chastin.

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