#RolandMartinUnfiltered - Miss. State-Run Court,Harry Dunn for Congress,Black Unemployment Drops, Roland Dissects Umar Johnson

Episode Date: January 6, 2024

1.5.2023 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: Miss. State-Run Court,Harry Dunn for Congress,Black Unemployment Drops, Roland Dissects Umar Johnson The state-run court in Mississippi's majority-black capital is becoming a reality after attempts for a permanent injunction failed. Jackson's City Council President and the Impact Policy Counsel for the Mississippi Center for Justice will join me to discuss what this means for the city.  He did his best to protect the capitol on January 6. Now, he's running for Maryland's 3rd Congressional District. Former Capitol Police officer Harry Dunn will be here to explain why he's running for office.  Republican Presidential candidate Nikky Haley did her best to back-peddle her statement about the Civil War during CNN's Town Hall. Ya'll wait until you hear how she tried to clean it up.  December's job report was better than predicted, with the black unemployment rate and the black men's unemployment rate taking a tumble.  And I have been waiting to come back to discuss what Umar Johnson said on Joe Budden's Podcast. Tonight I'm going to dissect his ass.  Download the Black Star Network app at http://www.blackstarnetwork.com! We're on iOS, AppleTV, Android, AndroidTV, Roku, FireTV, XBox and SamsungTV. The #BlackStarNetwork is a news reporting platform covered under Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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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. Today is Friday, January 5th, 2024. Coming up on Roller Markdown Filtered, streaming live on the Black Star Network. The state-run court in Mississippi's majority black state capitol is becoming a reality

after attempts for a permanent injunction failed. Jackson's city council president and the impact policy council for the Mississippi Center for Justice will join us to discuss what it means for the city. He did his best to protect the capitol on January 6th. Now he's running for Maryland's 3rd Congressional District. Former Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn will be here to explain why he is running for Congress. Donald Trump will get his day before the Supreme Court. The court has announced they are going to hear the ruling by Colorado Supreme Court

to remove him from the ballot for violating Section 3 of the 14th Amendment. Last night, CNN at a town hall with Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley in Iowa. My goodness. She sounded even more stupid talking about slavery and also the Confederate flag. But coming down in that state will break it down for you. December's jobs report was better than expected. Now you go to black unemployment rate and the black men's unemployment rate taking a tumble. Oh, yeah, y'all actually happened.

Plus, I don't like mess. But when you lie on me, then I got to go ahead and correct you. So I got a few words for Omar Johnson for lying on Joe Button's podcast when he came on my TV One show six years ago. You still lying after six years? Yeah, I'm gonna bring the funk. And it's time to bring the funk on Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network. Let's go. He's rollin' with Uncle Roro, yo.

Yeah, yeah. It's Rollin' Martin, yeah. Yeah, yeah. Rollin' with Rollin' now. Yeah, yeah. He's funky, he's fresh, he's real the best. You know he's Rollin Martel now. Martel.

The Mississippi Capital Complex Improvement District Court is now a reality. The NAACP sued on behalf of several Jackson, Mississippi residents, asking for an injunction to stop the court appointments and creation of the court. But U.S. District Judge Henry Wingate denied that. On January 1, it was a start date. It was delayed by temporary administrative stay, granted by a panel of the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. But on Thursday, the court vacated that stay. House Bill 1020 was signed into law in April of last year

to address violent crimes and bolster public safety in the capital city, but not just in the capital city, only in every small area. Joining me now from Jackson, the City Council President Aaron Banks, as well as Blake Feldman, the Impact Policy Counsel for the Mississippi Center for Justice. Glad to have both of you here. We've been covering this story, President Banks, and let's just be just real clear here.

This is not dealing with all of Jackson. He's dealing with a very small portion of Jackson. And really, we showed the map before where most of the city's white residents actually live. That is correct, Roland. It deals with the area of Jackson almost as if it is creating a city within the city. You're talking about the Fondren, Belle Haven areas. You're talking about your downtown area. It does include Jackson State University, the updated map, which is, of course, our renowned HBCU here. But the deal is, when you see the Capitol Police, you see three or four units pulling

over or dealing with one homeless person. And you know, it's a waste of manpower. And so, when we talk about, you know, these judges, when we talk about taking the authority away from the people of Jackson to be able to elect the circuit court judges, to be able to make sure that we have a voice in who represents us and who deals with our courts and how we deal with our issues, you know, I have big problems, because at the end of the day, and even more so now that we're going into our legislative session, you know, we need a partnership with the state at the end of the day.

We don't need a taskmaster. You know, we don't need an overseer, but we need partnership. And, you know, hopefully we can find a way to get there this legislative session. But right now, you know, it's— I think we all know exactly what it is. Well, here's the deal here, Blake. And again, we've covered this numerous times. I have yet to be shown any data that explains this. They haven't offered any. This is simply largely white Republicans in Mississippi deciding to do this in the blackest city in the country. It's not based upon data. Right. It's absolutely not.

And that's another thing, too, about allegedly this being a good faith attempt to promote public safety. One of the provisions of House Bill 1020 that was struck down for violating the state constitution was they were going to pack the circuit courts with unelected judges. Circuit courts deal with felony matters. We've heard all legislative session. We've heard all throughout these different legal challenges to this bill and its companion bill that this is all about public safety and there's all this violent crime and homicide and all these things in Jackson. So today, Tate Reeves applauding the Fifth Circuit, saying we're going to make Jackson safe. This is a municipal court. Nobody has alleged that the Jackson Municipal Court has a backlog. Nobody's alleged that because of failures at municipal court or justice court, like very low-level courts, that that has anything to do with violent crime.

This will do nothing to address violent crime. All that this does is it meets the same goal that that other provision did with packing the circuit courts. It is effectively overriding the local control that voters and elected officials in Jackson and Hines County had over their justice system and that every other resident and voter of every other city in the state of Mississippi and every other county in the state of Mississippi enjoys. all that it is is saying you don't get to control your justice system unlike every other municipality in the state.

We are going to control it in this little area. It's little, but it has 50% of the white population of Jackson. The city of Jackson, I think in the 2020 census, had a little over 25,000 white people with the expanded boundaries of the CCID over 12,600. I mean, we're at 50 percent, 50 percent of the white people in Jackson in this tiny area of the city within a city that is going to be run by not by people appointed by the mayor that they chose, the city councilors that they chose, but by an attorney general who I think in the past two elections, over 83% of the people of Jackson, the voters, voted for her opponent, and a white Supreme Court justice who was elected by people on the coast. It's all about saying black people cannot be trusted to, with local rule, with home rule, with the same and democratic rights that every other citizen in the state of Mississippi gets to enjoy. Aaron, being here, Republicans love talking about local control, except when they don't control the local government. It amazes me when I hear the constant trashing of Jackson, Mississippi.

But Jackson, Mississippi provides the bulk of the money that funds the state. So it's amazing how they don't mind the money from all these black folks in Jackson, but they sure as hell love trashing the black folks in Jackson. Yeah. You know, Roland, we've dealt with that for quite some time, you know, taking away, you know, our ability to govern. You know, at the end of the day, sadly enough, we have to begin to push the narrative. And it takes shows like this to help push the narrative on, you know, the hypocrite—because here's where the state is hypocritical. The problems that have gotten us where we are with our crime—do we have crime problems? Yes. You know, do we need help from our state? Yes. But not adequately funding our public schools, not adequately funding programs that deal with mental health, not adequately funding our homeless population, not adequately funding, you know,

the things that deal with pursuit or even having an interlocal agreement with our agencies. These are the things that the people in this CCID district are afraid of. And so at the end of the day, yeah, while Jackson does have its share of problems, there has to be the level of respect that it shouldn't be, oh, look at them. They can't run a city. We need to come in there and help them do it. And that is the viewpoint from our surrounding cities, from our surrounding counties, and people that represent certain counties in the legislature that sponsored this bill that don't even spend time in Jackson, that when we had rolling four weeks without water, didn't come down here and even try to pass out a bottle of water. So at the end of the day, yeah, we have these deep-seated issues. And yes,

it's been a fight to take over our governance for a while, from the airport takeover, from trying to take over our system. Thank God the federal government has come in and implemented a third-party administrator so that the state wouldn't put us in receivership. But at the end of the day, we have to be serious about making sure that the state is held accountable. And I know that one way we do it at the voting booth, but the other way we do it is that we got to be unfiltered and we got to call it out. And again, we don't need our state to be a taskmaster or an overseer. We need them to be a partner with us. And right now, we are in a legislative session. You know, I have talked to some of our delegations, the Black Caucus.

You know, right now, the only fight we have while this is in the courts is to try to make sure we can get some modifications or improvements. And so we got to start talking about these pursuits. We got to start talking about what an interlocal agreement looks like. You have a police force that's right here in the capital city that doesn't even have a system that communicates with the system that the city of Jackson has or Hines County. How do they work together? What is this?

This is a city within the city implementation. And we have to continue to call it out. And we have to make sure that we're doing all we can right now during legislative session to make those improvements and modifications. I'm curious, Blake, are they going to deal with the voting irregularities and the screw up in the ballots in Hines County since they want to be in Hines County business? I mean, I tell you, I mean, I think everybody was concerned with it. I mean, everybody who is concerned with this. I mean, what we're seeing in all of these days,

when you talk about conservatives love local control, except, what we're seeing in all of these days when you talk about conservatives love local control, except for when they're not in control, one of the first thoughts in people's mind was, is this going to be pretext for them to try to take over yet another piece of Jackson and Hines County residents' rights? So it's something that we will be keeping an eye on. I've heard rumors. We haven't seen any bills dropped that would do that. But would it be disgusting and malicious and in bad faith? Absolutely.

Would it be surprising? No, it wouldn't. But I think that they will find that people are prepared. People are not going to be even more ready this session if other attacks come. And one other thing that I want to say, it was just mentioned the voting booth is one way to effect change and to make our voices heard, but we also have to be unfiltered. Lots of people say, go to the polls and go to the streets and go to the courts. I do want to say one of the most concerning things about the CCID court is that because they claim to be concerned with violent crime, but municipal courts don't have jurisdiction over violent crime. They have jurisdiction to sentence people for very low-level offenses, traffic violations, ordinance violations, disorderly conduct, things that in the past in Mississippi and in the present in Mississippi, protesters are arrested for.

Also, in this tiny little majority white city within a city that's not really a city at all, it's a fake city. Gotcha. They can send people arrested for these very minor offenses to prison. I do think that there is an intent to silence people, to enforce respectability politics. In the companion bill, they tried to say that you have to ask for the state's permission to protest. We got an injunction to stop that. But these were two bills that they brought together. They were part and parcel and they want black people to stay out of the CCID.

They want black people to be scared of going through the CCID. They want them to be scared of being unfiltered. Well, and that's also why we also keep saying to our folks, that's why we got to turn out en masse because, again, about 38,000 people had turned

out. There'd be a new governor in Mississippi, but unfortunately, that was not the case. Gentlemen, I certainly appreciate it. Thanks for joining us. Thanks so much. Folks, got to go to a break. We come back more on Roland Martin Unfiltered, including the Supreme Court taking up the case of Colorado tossing Donald Trump from the ballot. Ooh. Oh, yeah. Can't wait to get into that. All right, folks, you're watching Roland Martin Unfortunate on the Black Star Network.

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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,

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And please support us that way. I'll be right back. All right, folks, some breaking news. The Supreme Court has announced it is going to take up the Colorado decision to kick Donald Trump off of the ballot. This is the headline in the New York Times. The justices are going to determine whether Colorado's decision is an appropriate one. Guys, pull it up. So that's what's going on here. Of course, oral arguments will take place on February 8th.

Maine has also made the determination to kick him off of the ballot. Huge, huge decision. Let's talk about it with our panel. Matt Manning, civil rights attorney, joins us now out of Corpus Christi. Also, we have Caleb Bethea, communications strategist out of D.C., Michael Imhotep hosts African History Network show out of Detroit. Let him all three of y'all. Happy New Year, Matt. Initially, the court was like, all right.

You know, the lower court got to hear it first. Now, after Maine's decision, they realize, yeah, kind of got to get off your butt. Here's the deal, though. He will remain on the March 5th Colorado ballot. But the question is, if they rule in favor of Colorado, then what happens to his name? At the end of the day, they were going to have to make this decision anyway. OK, and frankly, what they should have announced in December, well, they were going to be hearing this in January. That's what they should have done.

Yeah, I think you're right. I think they should have, you know, I think you're right. I think they should have, you know, taken it up with haste because it's such an important question. I'm glad that they've taken it up. I was, you know, not sure what they were going to do. And thinking about this legally, what's really interesting about this issue is really whether the Supreme Court has to review the Colorado decision, what's called de novo, or whether they review it for an abuse of discretion. And what that means is when an appellate court is looking at a prior court's decision,

sometimes they review it to say, OK, did they make a mistake? We're going to give full deference to their decision. And then other times they say, we're going to look at the issue anew, de novo, meaning we're going to take a new look at it. So the reason that analysis is important and that I've been really kind of interested in seeing how this plays out is because if they do it from an abuse of discretion standpoint, if they give that judge in Colorado discretion, then it's going to be problematic for the Trump team, because presumably they're going to say, that judge heard evidence and made an evidentiary ruling that he engaged in an insurrection. Therefore, we have no reason to think that she did not apply the law correctly or that

her evaluation of the evidence was incorrect, you know, things in that vein. However, if they look at it anew, then they'll be looking presumably just at the constitutional question. And what I think this comes down to, Roland, is really a question of whether the Constitution requires some kind of legal finding that somebody's engaged in an insurrection or whether it can be a factual finding. If it can be the latter, then I think the Supreme Court will come down on the side of he cannot be on the ballot where a state has determined he's engaged in an insurrection.

If the Supreme Court construes it as saying there has to be a conviction or some kind of legal finding, then I think they will be ruling for Mr. Trump. And, you know, I don't have any allusions to 6-3 conservative court, but that's how I see the legal issues in this, and that's what I think they'll be taking up when they're evaluating this case. Well, the thing that's interesting here, Kelly, is that these strict constructionists, these people who believe in the literal interpretation of the Constitution, when you read Section 3, it doesn't say conviction.

It doesn't say any of that. It says involve an insurrection or you aid it and abet it. And not only that, it's the same people who are so gung-ho on states' rights, but when the state doesn't do what they want them to do on a national level, all of a sudden we got a problem. I am—to echo Matt's point, I am glad that they're taking up the case, that Supreme Court is taking this question up. My fear is that even though I feel like it is constitutional for these individual states to do that, my concern is the ramifications of that being Republicans taking that and running with it, meaning they will come the next election. You know, hypothetically speaking, we, the Democrats, have a candidate that the Republicans don't want on the ballot, and they will use this case whichever way

the Supreme Court rules on it and use that case law, whatever it may be, to their advantage to take a Democrat off the ballot, unnecessarily so. And we do have precedent for Republicans taking good law and twisting it into something that becomes corrupt. That's my only concern with this. But as far as what I know the 14th Amendment to be and how it's being applied in these individual states, it does seem like it is constitutionally sound. Again, my concern is how it is going to be applied in the future when it is in corrupt hands. Well, I mean, here's the thing, Michael.

Go to my iPad. This is the 14th Amendment. It says, and again, if you actually read it, it lays out, you know, no person, senator representative or electorate or president, vice president. Now, here's the thing that's interesting. So the Trump people are trying to suggest that he's not, and I'll go back to it, trying to suggest that he's not an officer. Okay. And they are desperate to create this notion that the president is above and beyond everybody, that you cannot apply any law whatsoever to the president of the United States.

What the problem with that logic is that the president is sworn to uphold and protect the Constitution from enemies within and abroad. And so there's this idea that, oh, you somehow are in such a special category that nothing applies to you is absolutely bogus. Yes, absolutely bogus. But this is the hand that the Trump attorneys are dealt with. And this is a this puts the six three conservative majority Supreme Court in a quandary. And this is laid out in the piece from the Atlantic.com that Adam Seward wrote called The Colorado Ruling Caused the Originalist Bluff. The Colorado Ruling Caused the Originalist Bluff. Now, to go to the original text or go to the intent, as you stated before, it does not

say that you have to be convicted of being—participating in an insurrection, OK, or anything like that. But if we look at correspondence from 1866 between two of the U.S. senators that helped to write the 14th Amendment—and I can't take credit for this. Alex Wagner revealed this on her show on MSNBC. It was a correspondence between Senator Reverdy Johnson and Senator Lord Morrill. And Senator Reverdy Johnson was asking, why doesn't it explicitly say—bar the president or vice president? And Senator Lord Morrill said that it—he said, let me call to the senator's attention to the phrase any, OK?

And he was saying this also applies to president and vice president. They would be barred from holding office if they participated in an insurrection. So this will—that correspondence will probably come up during the trial, because it's clear this applies to any office if you took an oath to defend the U.S. Constitution. And lastly, the Trump attorneys are saying, well, the oath that the president takes is slightly different than what the House of Representatives takes or the U.S. Senate. It doesn't matter.

It applies to any office, period. So he should be barred from being on any ballot in any of the 50 states. That should be the case. We'll see what happens. Cannot wait to hear those oral arguments, especially the gymnastics that Clarence Thomas, as well as Sam Alito,

is likely going to try to create when they try to get around, especially these so-called strict constructionists. All right, y'all. Got to go to break. We come back. We'll talk to former Capitol Hill police officer Harry Dunn. He's now running for Congress.

Why is he seeking an office? One of the offices that he helped to protect during the January 6, 2021 insurrection led by Donald Trump. Plus, I told y'all, I really, remember that scene from the Godfather? He's like, I try to get out and keep pulling me back in. I can't stand these people who gossip, people who just make up lies like Umar Johnson. He went with Joe Button podcast

and lied about his appearance on my TV One show six years ago. Well, I'm going to respond with some CBS-level receipts for his ass. That's at the top of the hour. You're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Blackstar Network.

Next, on The Black Table, with me, Greg Carr, the enigma of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. What really makes him tick and what forces shaped his view of the world, the country and black America? The answer, I'm pretty sure, will shock you. And he says, you know, people think that I'm anachronistic. I am. I want to go backwards in time in order to move us forward into the future. He's very upfront about this. We'll talk to Corey Robin, the man who wrote the book that reveals it all. That's next on The Black Table, only on the Black Star Network.

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an air hip-hop comedy. But right now, I'm rolling with Roland Martin. Unfiltered, uncut, unplugged, and undamned believable. You hear me? All right, folks. Tomorrow is the third anniversary of the Donald Trump-led January 6, 2021 insurrection. Y'all remember. It wasn't a little walk in the park.

Y'all roll a video. They sit here and lied, talked about, oh, you know, they were just, you know, just taking a normal tour. That's how Republicans have labeled the actions, even though you've got more than 700 people who've actually been arrested by the feds for their involvement in that terrorist attack. Our next guest was in the midst of the chaos and turmoil that disrupted the Electoral College vote count, resulting in nine deaths, assaults on at least 174 police officers, and millions of dollars in damage. Yep, those MAG extremists, they're the reason former U.S. Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn says he... 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 Bannock-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 Glod. 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. 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. ...is running for Congress. Thank you. That meant putting aside who I am, a father, a Marylander, a Democrat, because I swore an oath to protect our Constitution, to protect our democracy. It's what allowed me to protect some members of Congress who I knew were bigots, who helped fan the flames that started all of this.

I put country above self. The problem is, a lot of them didn't. Some of the same people who stood behind us when we protected them went back on the floor of Congress and stood behind Trump. They voted to acquit him. And worst of all, they denied the violence and trauma that led to the death of some of my fellow officers. I couldn't stand by and watch. I had another role to play.

I used my voice to speak out, to get into good trouble. And a few weeks ago, I left the force after more than 15 years of service. So that today, I can announce I'm running for Congress. We can't ever let this happen again. And you've heard it from Trump himself. He is hell-bent on finishing what he started this day. I'm stepping into a new role today, but I can't do it alone. I believe every one of us has a role to play in this fight.

So join me. We've got a democracy to protect. Folks, Harry Dunn joins us right now. Glad to have you here on the show. Obviously, a decision like this isn't an easy one. How long have you been thinking about this? Hey, thanks, Brother Roland, for having me on. You know, I've been a public servant the last 15, 16 years of my life. So if you would have asked me before January 6th

if I had thought about running for office, then sure, I may have considered it at the age of 57, 55, whenever I was forced to retire from my job. But January 6th did happen, and here we are. I stuck around as long as I could. There's this phrase or this saying that I heard, until there's nothing that can be done, there's always something that can be done. And I believe that I've done everything I can in the position as a Capitol Police officer

to seek accountability, to protect democracy, to defend the Constitution. And now I'm stepping into a new role. And the decision, like you said, it didn't come lightly. I walked away from four years short of being able to retire and to receive my pension to, because we can't wait. Democracy is literally an election away from being extinct and not being recognizable as we know it today. And we can't sit around and wait for somebody else to do it. So it's an opportunity right now for me to take another role and I'm stepping into it. The thing that is still interesting,

let's say you're elected. You're actually going to be serving alongside people who have lied about that day. People who were cowering and running for cover, but who turned around and are protecting these people. Who are supporting Donald Trump, who says that he will pardon every single person who was convicted for what took place on January 6th. I mean, these are people who are, frankly, a joke. Yeah, you just said something very important, though.

You said, I'll be serving alongside of them, not beneath them, not under them. I get a seat at the table. I get a voice now. It's hard for them to dismiss me as just an angry, pissed-off Capitol Police officer now. I'm your colleague. You have to sit there and listen to what I have to say. And, you know, I think that will be very beneficial. Like I said, I've done all that I could as a role as a Capitol Police officer. I was defending these individuals before the insurrection happened and three years after it. So, I definitely can put my feelings aside and stand up for what I believe in democracy, because they have the right to say that.

They have the right to lie. They have the right to do everything that they're doing. And I believe in defending that right, but it needs to be pushed back against by good, the real patriots of this country. You, of course, you're a retiring congressman in that particular district. Look, when you run, you've got to raise a lot of money to do so as well. And so beyond January 6th, what else are you focusing on? I'm glad that you said donate. HarryDunforCongress.com and donate to me. Obviously, so, you know, going back into what am I focused on, the big umbrella is democracy. So I align

with Democratic views when it comes to, you know, abortion, when it comes to common sense gun reform, when it comes to securing voting rights and expanding voting rights, when it comes to common-sense gun reform, when it comes to securing voting rights and expanding voting rights, when it comes to lowering the cost for health care and prescription drugs. I stand with Democrats on all of those issues. But right now, what I refer to where we are right now is a moment. This moment, none of that matters. None of those issues matter if we get a dictator in Congress.

And I say that not just—and I'll still—while Joe Biden's word is hyperbole, I don't say that as that. Donald Trump said out of his own mouth that he wants to be a dictator. And even he jokes around and says only for a day. Like, do we not take that guy seriously? At what point do we stop—do we not—stop not taking him seriously? So, you know, I agree, obviously, with the Democratic platform, but none of those issues even get to see the light of day.

We don't get to debate those if we don't protect this democracy that we have. Questions from the panel. I'll start with you, Michael. All right. Former officer Harry Dunn, it's good to see you again. I saw you this morning on Morning Joe making the announcement as well. Thanks for coming on Roland Martin Unfiltered. As a candidate for Congress, and you mentioned at the top of the ticket the most important

thing is saving the democracy, how would you explain to people, especially Generation Z, what democracy is and why it's so important to save it and protect it? You know, one of the biggest things—that's a great question, man. You know, one of the things that I've run into along all of this, the last three years of speaking out, is indifference. A lot of people don't really care unless something is directly affecting them. So I think it's important to get the message out there why this is important to you specifically. You won't get the right to do that. Your mother, your sister won't have the right if she's raped by somebody and she's forced to have a rapist baby. You don't get a say anymore because, you know what, you live in a

different zip code. So you know what, you can't vote for these individuals. So we need to make that clear to these individuals, the generation that you just referred to. We got to make it clear that, yes, it may seem like all this stuff is happening on the news. And a lot of people like to distance themselves. I don't watch the news. It's too negative. Well, you better pay attention because it's going to happen with or without you. And I want people to have a voice and to have a say in it, because the more people that have a say, the harder it is for these individuals to tear up democracy like a piece of paper. Right. Kelly. All right. Thank you. Hi, Harry. Good to see you again. So, as we are both somewhat Marylanders—you're

definitely a Marylander, obviously—reading up on specifically the 3rd District, you have already admitted that while you're not a resident of that district yet, you will be moving there once you win. You know, fingers crossed that you do win, even though you are a U.S. congressman speaking this into existence, what are some of the issues of the third district specifically that you plan on campaigning for, provided that you win? What are some of those things that are specific to Marylanders that you will take with you to the Hill? You know, that's a great question. And a lot of times, you know, the issues that we're facing in this country, they're not just exclusive to the country.

They exist in Maryland, too. You know, people talk about high crime, and that's just not all across the country. That's here in Maryland, too, is here the cars getting stolen and everything. We have to address that. We have to fix that. One of the things that's very specific to Maryland is the infrastructure system. It should not take one hour to drive 15 miles. To drive from the district, to drive 15 miles to Baltimore, it shouldn't take you one hour. So I would love to revamp and look at the infrastructure system. One of the things that's very, also very important to me is I've been pounding the pavement about this is mental health. We have got to incorporate mental health into regular health care. We have to reduce the stigma. And I am willing to do any and everything to get that

on the forefront of some legislation. Additionally, excuse me, additionally, I, first and foremost, I'm going to talk to the district. Those are just some things that I want to do. I can't wait to get out there and talk to the voters. And, you know, I've always been this guy who just believes in public service. I'm a public servant. I'm a servant of the people. Use me. I'm a vessel. So I want them to pour into me and me be able to give them a voice on the floor of the House of Representatives in the halls of Congress. Matt? MATTHEW MCDONALD, Former U.S. Attorney General, U.S. Attorney General, U.S. Attorney

Thanks for coming back, and thanks for your service, your storied service. Here's my question for you. I know you just made your announcement today, but what has been the response from law enforcement and the military, and what is your expectation about that? Because obviously you were in the line of duty on one of the most important days in our history. But when we see law enforcement, you know a lot of times they tend to skew conservatives. So, what has the response been, and what is your expectation about support you might find from that contingent of people? You know, a lot of people that I've talked to, specific—like,

I haven't seen organizations putting out statements or anything like that. But individuals that I work with, the police officers that I know, law enforcement friends, have been very supportive of me. And, you know, just for—and this isn't about a Democrat or Republican. This is about preserving our democracy. Working at the Capitol, I think it's safe to say, over my career, I've dealt with over a thousand protests. And there are issues that I agree with, issues that I don't agree with. But you know what? Those individuals had a safe space to demonstrate and exercise their First Amendment right. And that's what all law enforcement and, frankly, all Americans should care about.

We shouldn't—so when individuals, like you said, law enforcement, my friends, that they are very receptive of and supportive of me, wishing me well and everything like that, because they know the people that I know. And that's why I look forward to getting out in the district and actually meeting people. The people actually know me, know that, sure, I have liberal views, but I'm not going to be dismissive of an individual just because they have different views as me. Generally, like you said, like most police unions tend to do, I would love to sit down with all of them and find out how can we work together. We're going to be here on this planet together.

We might as well coexist. All right, then. Harry Dunn, we'll appreciate it. Good luck in the campaign. Thanks, man. Harry Dunn for Congress.com. Donate, donate, donate. Thanks a lot for y'all.

Appreciate it. Thanks a lot. Folks, we come back. Nikki Haley, town hall last night with CNN. The hell is she talking about? About slavery and the Confederate flag? I can't wait to unpack. Plus, I got to address the lies of Umar Johnson

when he went on Joe Button's podcast recently. Yep. Got lots of receipts, too. Yep. You're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered on the Black Star Network. Don't forget, support us in what we do by joining our Bring the Funk fan club. Senior Check and Money orders appeal about 57196 Washington, D.C. 20037-0196. Cash out. Dollar sign RM Unfiltered. PayPal RM Martin Unfiltered. Venmo is RM

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I want to go backwards in time in order to move us forward into the future. He's very upfront about this. We'll talk to Corey Robin, the man who wrote the book that reveals it all. That's next on The Black Table, only on the Black Star Network. I'm Dee Barnes, and next on The Frequency, we're talking about the rise in great Black literature and the authors who are writing it. Joining me will be professor and author Donna Hill. Discuss her writing journey

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I'm Deborah Owens, America's Wealth Coach, and my new show on the Black Star Network focuses on the things your financial advisor or bank isn't telling you. So watch Get Wealthy on the Black Star Network. I'm Faraji Muhammad, live from LA. And this is The Culture. The Culture is a two-way conversation. You and me, we talk about the stories, politics, the good, the bad, and the downright ugly. So join our community every day at 3 p.m. Eastern and let your voice be heard. Hey, we're all in this together, so let's talk about it

and see what kind of trouble we can get into. It's the culture. Weekdays at 3, only on the Blackstar Network. Hey, what's up, y'all? I'm Devon Frank. I'm Dr. Robin B., pharmacist and fitness coach, and you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. Well, last night, CNN had a town hall featuring Nikki Haley. Erin Burnett of CNN was one hosting this. It took place in Iowa.

And Erin asked her about her recent controversial comments regarding the Civil War, lack of bringing up slavery, stuff along those lines. And so, yeah, it was quite interesting. So roll the first one. This, of course, is referring back to New Hampshire. You were asked to explain the cause of the Civil War. You obviously did not mention slavery. And afterwards, you came up, you said that was a mistake. In fact, you said it should have been the first thing that you said. So you did come out and say that.

Chris Christie, though, came out and said that you gave that answer not because you're, in his words, dumb or racist, but because you're, quote, unwilling to offend anyone by telling the truth. What do you say to that? No one's ever said that I, unwilling to offend anyone by telling the truth. What do you say to that? No one's ever said that I am unwilling to offend. I offend plenty of people because I call people out when they do something wrong. What I will tell you is Chris Christie is from New Jersey. I should have said slavery right off the bat. But if you grow up in South Carolina, literally in second and third grade, you learn about slavery. You grow up and you have, you know, I had black friends growing up. It is a very talked about

thing. We have a big history in South Carolina when it comes to, you know, slavery, when it comes to all the things that happened with the Civil War, all that. I was over, I was thinking past slavery and talking about the lesson that we would learn going forward. I shouldn't, all that. I was thinking past slavery and talking about the lesson that we would learn going forward. I shouldn't have done that. I should have said slavery. But in my mind, that's a given that everybody associates the Civil War with slavery.

I was thinking past slavery. Girl, go on with that bullshit. All right, now then the Confederate flag came up, and a bigger shovel was needed for the manure about to come out of her mouth. And to bring a divided state together and avoid riots and protests, the way we did that was I knew half of South Carolinians

saw the Confederate flag as heritage and tradition. The other half of South Carolinians saw it as slavery and hate. My job wasn't to judge either side. My job was to get them to see the best of themselves and go forward. And South Carolinians showed what true strength and grace looked like, because we didn't have protests. We had vigils. We didn't have riots. We had prayer. And South Carolina led the way, but that is the way we have to work on issues that try

and divide us, is don't go and pick who's right and who's wrong and who's good and who's bad. That's what leaders are doing now, and it's caused us to be completely in political disarray. A leader doesn't decide who's right. When you serve the people, you serve everybody. And your job is to give them all the information you have and let them know where you want to go going forward. Now, y'all, this is the same Nikki Haley whose mama and daddy couldn't get a job in South Carolina, whose daddy was hired at an HBCU,

whose mama, and Michael Herod has broken this thing down on Twitter multiple times, whose mama couldn't get nobody to buy the dresses she made, and it was black women who bought. 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.

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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 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 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 podcast. And to hear episodes one week early and ad free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. Her mama's dresses. But the same Nikki Haley who's previously said that they couldn't have black people over at their house because the landlord said, no, you can't do that. The same Nikki Haley who went to one of those white private academies in South Carolina. You know, the ones created during Jim Crow? That was 95% white. Yeah, she didn't go to the public school. She went to that private academy.

And listen to that nonsense. And I love it. I had black friends. They just couldn't come to the house. Is that, then you hit a Confederate flag one. First of all, real leaders call folk out. Well, they're supposed to. Do y'all remember the clip of the white woman,

the old white woman at the John McCain town hall who said that Obama wasn't a Christian and he was a Muslim and no, no ma'am, took the microphone out of her hand and said she was wrong. That ain't these Republicans. Nikki Haley has kissed the behind of white supremacists for decades. Nikki Haley doesn't want to be honest about the Confederate flag. She doesn't want to call it for what it is, because she doesn't want to offend

those white conservative Republicans and the white racists who actually vote Republican. That's all this was. And that's why she is grossly unfit for the Oval Office. Because if that's how you're going to weasel out of answers. Oh, no, I was that was that was. No, I was thinking beyond slavery. Half of the question was about a civil war. Oh, no, I was thinking beyond. I was thinking, how do we go beyond? The question was about the civil war. How are, I was thinking beyond, I was thinking, how do we go beyond? The question was about the Civil War.

How you gonna talk about how we go beyond? This right here, Kelly, are the games being played because Republicans appeal to white nationalists, white supremacists, and I love it when these same Republicans, Kelly, keep talking about Democratic Party is the party of the KKK. Democratic Party is the party of Jim Crow. Facts. Southern Democrats. But who is the party that defends Confederate monuments today? Republicans. Who is the party that supports Confederate days like, oh, Jefferson Davis's birthday, Robert E.

Lee, it's Republicans. Those are simple facts. Can't hear you, Kelly. There you go. Now we got you. I'm sorry. Now we got you. Go ahead.

Oh, I said Ms. Nimrata understands those facts, and she's woefully and willfully ignorant of those facts because she needs votes from the very people who would have denied her parents' entry into this country. is astounding, but it still never ceases to amaze me how pervasive and addicting whiteness is. And I can't think of a better example of someone who is more addicted to it than Miss Nimrata Haley, who goes by Nikki Haley because white people would never vote for somebody named Nimrata. And I'll leave it at that. Michael. Roland, you know, this was a bunch of BS that Nikki Haley spewed. But let me just say this succinctly. Nikki Haley knows better.

First of all, South Carolina, where Nikki Haley was governor of, was the first state to secede from the Union December 20 of 1860, six weeks after Abraham Lincoln became president-elect. South Carolina thought that Lincoln was going to free the slaves. South Carolina is where the Civil War began, April 12, 1861, with the attack on Fort Sumter. Nikki Haley knows this history. She's afraid to say it because she knows she's going to lose the white supremacist votes. And if you read the statements of secession from South Carolina, December 20, 1860, they tell you how essential the products that slaves made were crucial to their wealth, crucial to their way of life. And they talked about how they feared encroachment from the North and the North's opposition to westward expansion

of slavery. So, any of these Republicans that want to talk about the Democrat—it wasn't the Democratic Party, but Democrats started the KKK, we can have that discussion. But you also have to talk about the compromise of 1877, where Republicans conspired with Democrats to end Reconstruction. And Rutherford B. Hayes, the Republican candidate, when he became president, he removed the union troops out of the South. So we have to talk about that. And we have to talk about the Lillywhite movement in 1928, which was the movement by Republicans to push African-Americans out of the Republican Party,

which is why we ended up in the Democratic Party. So we can have a history lesson right here on Roland Martin Unfiltered if you want to have that conversation. She is a fraud, Matt Manning, and all she wants to do is give cover to these white racists and, well,

people are both sides, and so it's not my job to judge. Well, you were right, and Chris Christie was right, by evidence by both of those clips. I mean, it's obvious that she's afraid to speak the truth here because she doesn't want to lose, as Kelly mentioned. She doesn't want to lose social capital and, as Michael mentioned, turn people off. But the thing that's ridiculous to me about this is, honestly, this kind of harkens back to the same issue with Claudine Gay and Liz McGill with their answers in front of Congress.

This is an easy answer. The Civil War was fought over slavery. It infuriates me when people try to make it about states' rights and anything else other than states' rights for white people to own our people. That's it. That's the only question. She knows that. And I think it's intellectually dishonest not to answer that. And then the other thing about the Confederate flag and, you know, try to find the good in each other and move forward. Here's the thing that is just intellectually dishonest about anybody who is looking at it like tradition. These are the same people who are jingoist. I mean, as much as they crow America over everyone else. And if you don't stand and salute the flag at an NFL game,

you're not a true American, well, how can you then logically support the Confederacy in any means, right? Because that was a secession from the United States. So there's a lot of mental gymnastics that have to happen for this to happen. But it's obvious that she doesn't think that there's any loss in not saying the truth, which is that the Civil War was fought over slavery. And the thing about this is this is a slap in the face to say, oh, I thought everybody knew it was about slavery, I'm going past slavery, when the truth is it was about slavery. And it should be easy for her to say that unequivocally,

but because she's a politician and she's looking for votes and not the truth, this is the BS that we get instead. Yep, and then, and again, this whole, no, I was thinking past that. I was thinking going forward. What the hell? I'm sorry, what the hell is going forward? She's disingenuous.

And let me say this here, and this is most important for black people to understand. The Confederate flag came down in South Carolina because of black blood being spilled. It took nine, let me be clear, it took nine black people being killed, gunned down by a racist white supremacist by the name of Dylann Roof. Otherwise, Nikki Haley would have done nothing when it came to that flag, and that flag will be still flying in South Carolina.

Those are simple, basic facts that she does not want to accept. And so I've heard people say, well, no, Nikki Haley did a remarkable job bringing people together. No, she gets no credit for that flag coming down because it was the blood of black people that brought that flag down. Pure and damn simple. All right, y'all going to break. We come back.

Umar Johnson loves to run his mouth. And when you run your mouth that much, you end up lying about some stuff. Well, he went on Joe Budden's podcast and was lying about an appearance on my TV One show from six years ago. And I ain't one to have to address this. Oh, but I will. With receipts. And that's next on Roland Martin Unfiltered

on the Blackstar Network. Next on The Frequency, we're talking Black women in fashion. My guest, Renee Wilson, is speaking on the challenges of starting her own fashion line. So I wanted to really be able to design the clothes, but add a modern twist to it so that we could wear these patterns in everyday wear and not just reserve it for our formal ceremony. That's next on The Frequency on the Black Star Network. This week on The Black Table with me, Greg Carr. Reparation, is it finally time? Two of the country's foremost authorities on the subject

will join me to try to answer that very question. Powerful installment of The Black Table with me, Greg Carr, right here, only on the Black Star Network. On the next A Balanced Life with me, Dr. Jackie, people can't live with them, can't live without them. Our relationships often have more ups and downs than a boardwalk rollercoaster, but it doesn't have to be that way. Trust your gut. Whenever your gut is like, this isn't healthy, this isn't right. I don't like the way that I'm being treated. This goes for males and females. Trust your gut. And then whenever that gut feeling comes, have a conversation. Knowing how to grow or when to go. A step-by-step guide on the next A Balanced Life on Blackstar Network.

Don't you think it's time to get wealthy? I'm Deborah Owens, America's Wealth Coach, and my new show on the Blackstar Network focuses on the things your financial advisor or bank isn't telling you. So watch Get Wealthy on the Blackstar Network. Grow your business or career with Grow with Google's wide range of online courses, digital training, and tools. Gain in-demand job skills with flexible online training programs

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I'm Dr. Bernard Hodges. And I'm Dr. Terrence Ferguson. 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 multibillion-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 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 does it makes it real listen to new episodes of the war on drugs podcast season two on the iheart radio 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 Apple Podcasts. Tune into Roland Martin Unfiltered.

Alright folks, now I hate mess. I hate mess. I hate mess. I hate messy people. I hate when people lie, things along those lines. Now, you got these people out here who run their mouths, and they love mentioning my name. They love talking about what we do on this show.

And I don't really care about any of them. I'm talking about I don't care about Tariq. I don't care about Boyce. I don't care about Vicky Dillard. I don't care about that dude, Phillip. I don't care about black authority. I don't care about, I'm like, go do what y'all do. I don't care about Omar Johnson the same way. I don't care. Go do what y'all do. I don't follow them. I don't listen to them. I don't track them. I really don't care what they have to say about anything. Go do what y'all want to do. We over here doing what we do, doing the job that we're supposed to be doing. And so I just don't get involved in all that back and forth, silly, nonsensical mess.

But when you lie, when you go on other folk platform and you lie and just make up stuff, then I'm like, I got to go ahead and say something. So when I was on vacation, somebody hit me up and they said that they said that Omar Johnson went on Joe Button's podcast and and said a few things about me, about his appearance on TV One. It was six years ago. Six years ago. So here's the setup. Omar had gone on The Breakfast Club and it was a contentious appearance. They talked about his credentials, his school, all kinds of stuff like that. So I saw all the back and forth. my staff saw all the back and forth. So I was like, go ahead and book him, bring him on the show, okay? That's what happened.

So he comes on the show. He had been on the show three previous times, same format, panel, no different. This time, two of the panelists took exception, what Omar had to say. And at what point during the show Omar was responding to Eugene Craig, conservative, called him a coon. I slammed my hand down and say I don't allow that language or any racial

epitaphs on my show and so that's really why he was upset. So he went on and trashed me, trashed us. Oh, we attacked him. We ambushed him. It was a setup. And then he went on to claim that, oh, that when the show got canceled, that appearance was the reason why the show got canceled. All lies. Okay?

So this is all the crap he said before. Whatever. So now he goes on Joe Budden's podcast. And now he got new lies he telling. All right, so we're going to do this here first. So when he got invited, he was told what the topic was. He was told everything involved with it. We were seeing a press release out about the subject matter.

So this notion that, oh, I got ambushed is stupid because ambush means that I didn't see any of this coming. I didn't know what was coming when we actually laid out what this topic was actually about. So to refresh people, this is literally how the beginning of that segment went six years ago on TV One. It's just how the beginning went.

Go ahead. It was amazing looking at this whole reaction. I mean, I'm sitting here, you know, again, people asking all kinds of questions. Things are blowing up. And so many people jumped on saying he's not a real doctor. Okay. Where did you graduate from and you got your PhD?

My undergraduate education was from Millersville University. Three degrees, political science, psychology, master's in school psychology. Subsequent to that, Pennsylvania certification as a school psychologist, which I've been for almost 20 years. After that, I got my educational leadership master's degree in principal certificate from Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. And I earned my doctorate degree from the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, American Psychological Association approved program, one of the top psychology training programs on the East Coast. Six degrees in all, and anyone can lift up a telephone and call and verify those degrees. So when you see folks who question your degrees, your response? It's because my narrative is a whole lot different from the average mainstream black scholar.

I don't parrot the narrative that the American social order wants black scholars to parrot. I tell the truth. I don't scratch unless I itch and I don't dance unless I like the music. And because... Okay okay so you saw that that's literally how it all began okay and a little bit later I'm going to show you when things went sideways uh and this is really why he got upset so he goes on Joe Button's podcast was dropped last month and Joe asked him about this so-called beef. Nothing like that. I didn't know that you had Roland Martin beef. Neither did I.

What happened was I was on Roland Martin's show about two or three times before that final visit that led to the altercation, verbal altercation, not physical. It was 2016. I had just done the Breakfast Club a week prior, and Roland Martin's people contacted me to come back again. This was either my third or fourth visit to News 1 Now. So I had been on the show before.

We already knew each other. Never had a negative. Cordial. Always. Got it. This time was different because when I got there, as I waited in the dressing room, he came out the restroom, and he didn't speak. He walked right by me. So Sutton says, Sutton's up today. Today going to be a little

different because why would he walk by you and not speak? So when we finally got involved in the conversation, I kind of realized what was going on. I think he was a little jealous of the breakfast club thing. That interview went viral. All of them go viral, but that one went viral. And at that time i guess he wanted to take some of the air out of my balloon so he questioned my credentials my blood relationship to the honorable frederick douglas a couple other things and i think he has set up his panel in such a way that i think they were supposed to intellectually massacre me which nobody on the planet earth can do that they was gonna get and so they ended up getting intellectually massacred, and that was the end of it.

But I didn't appreciate what he did. The set up. I thought it was a bitch move. Alana. I've been on your show plenty of times. You know, I'm driving down here from Philadelphia, taking time out of my busy schedule. I could be doing other things, and you used that time to try to insult me. But it backfired on him, and I think that's partly the reason why his show was canceled by the end of the year,

because I'm very popular among black folks. I'm probably the most popular black scholar in modern history when it comes to mainstream black America, even though my views are considered rather controversial. And so when Roland Martin did that, I don't think he properly anticipated or calculated the collateral damage. But by the end of the year, he was off the television. All right. So y'all heard all that BS. So we're going to do it this way. So we're going to replay that and then we're going to unpack it with receipts.

So re-rack that, please. And then I'll tell you when to stop. Nothing like that. I didn't know that you had Roland Martin beef. Neither did I. What happened was I was on Roland Martin's show about two or three times before that final visit that led to the altercation, verbal altercation, not physical. It was a 2016. I had just done the breakfast club a week prior and Roland Martin's people contacted me to come back again. This was either my third or fourth

visit to news one now. So I had been on the show before we already knew each other, never had a negative cordialial. Always. Got it. This time was different because when I got there, as I waited in the dressing room, he came out the restroom and he didn't speak. He walked right by me. So Sutton says... Alright. Y'all, when I do

the show, I'm focused on the show. A lot of times, I don't even speak to the guests. A lot of times, I don't speak to the staff. When I'm locked on the show, boom, I'm going from makeup down to the studio. So, Omar, you ain't that special. A lot of it happens here. A guest could be sitting in the chair. I'm coming in. I'm getting stuff. I'm doing whatever. I'm getting stuff. I'm doing whatever. I don't have, I'm not sitting here talking to people, speaking to people, because I'm trying to focus on getting on the show.

And that hurts your little ego, but that's just a fact. Now press play. Right by me. So Sutton says Sutton's up today. Today going to be a little different, because why would he walk by you and not speak? So when we finally got involved in the conversation, I kind of realized what was going on. I think he was a little jealous of the Breakfast Club thing. That interview went viral.

All of them go viral. But that one went viral. And at that time, I guess he wanted to take some of the air out of my balloon so he questioned my credentials mob Omar I literally was hosting a daily morning show on TV one I will the time join a morning show three days a week why would I be jealous of you like really why would I be jealous of you? Like really? Why would I be jealous of you? I've gone viral numerous times. I don't get off about going viral.

Because that means nothing. So why would I remotely be jealous of you? See, this is the new lie. Because he hadn't used that one before. So now that's the new lie he's trying to spin. Dude, you mean nothing to me. Like, literally. I'm not jealous of, hell, anybody in media. Why would i be jealous of somebody not in media i was speaking to millions every day three days a week on time during the morning show you think i'm jealous because you went on the breakfast club blood relationship to the honorable frederick douglas a couple other things.

And I think he has set up his panel in such a way that. So Omar says, oh, he questioned all these things. Here's the problem, Omar. I don't delete emails. I have receipts. Go to my iPad. July 6, 2017. This is the actual email.

I sent an email to the booker, the executive producer, as well as the senior producer on the show. Hey, Dr. Umar Johnson, book him on the show to discuss black Twitter, lighting him up about his recent Breakfast Club interview. The booker, Chandra Hughes, copy, will reach out now. That's the actual email. Why? What did I actually say in the video when he came on? People were talking about your appearance. And they were asking all these questions, and they were questioning your credentials.

I'm sorry. Y'all might think that's not true. Okay. But go back and actually watch the clip. I actually said it. So you see the correspondence. Oh, Daniel was like, oh, my goodness. He set his panel up.

Y'all, let me explain something to y'all. The panel don't know who coming on the show. How about this here? Today's panel, Matt, Michael, Kelly. Have y'all ever, ever were set up to say, hey, this person is coming on, so I need y'all to do this when this person comes on. No. I wouldn't do it if people don't tell me what to say. No, no, no, but has it ever happened?

Now, I don't know what a panelist is going to say. All three of y'all can agree. Matter of fact, if I'm correct, me and Michael got into it when he questioned one of them by Donald's white wife. We got into the number. I don't. But the point I make, I don't I don't even ask. Listen to me clearly. Y'all not go back to go keep it on the panel.

I think people understand. I don't even ask the panelists what they think. And let me explain to y'all why. Because when I was on CNN, they used to assume they knew what I was going to say. When I was on CNN, they would literally sit there and, oh, so-and-so's going to say this. When I filled in for Campbell Brown, we were discussing Michael Vick and if he served his time, should he come back to the

NFL? And there was, what's Gloria, what's her daughter's name? Gloria Allred's daughter. She's the attorney. Lisa Bloom. So Lisa Bloom was a big-time PETA person. And we're sitting there, and I'm filling in for Kimmel Brown,

and the senior producer goes, oh, we know what Lisa thinks. And I said, has anybody asked her? Roland, we know she's going to be against Michael Vick coming back. I was like, has anybody asked her? So the senior producer got pissed off at me. I turned to the book of Tara. I said, Tara, can you call Lisa and just ask where she stands on this? She says, she comes back, folks, we have a problem. Lisa says that if he serves his time, he should be able to come back. I go, see, y'all always assume you even know what I think.

I said, but you don't. So I don't ask a panelist. We don't set any panelists up. They can take any position they want to, and they actually did. So, Umar, you're lying again. And remember, y'all, he actually talked about, oh, my goodness, it was a setup. It was how I got set up.

Remember all that stuff? Now, keep playing it, because y'all gonna hear it. Watch this. I think they were supposed to intellectually massacre me, which nobody on the planet Earth can do that. And so they ended up getting intellectually massacred, and that was the end of it. But I didn't appreciate what he did. I thought it was a bitch move. Stop right there. Stop right there end of it. But I didn't appreciate what he did. I thought it was a bitch move.

Stop right there. Stop right there. Oh, I didn't appreciate what he did. Now, you hear Melissa Ford say blindside. He wasn't blindsided. Now, he said that lie before. Ambush. Oh, I was ambushed. Really? Come back to my iPad. Y'all see this?

Hi, Susan and Roland. Here's a copy of today's release. Let me know your thoughts and thanks. This is a press release. The press release says, Controversial Psychologist Dr. Umar Johnson thinks interracial marriage negates efforts of black men dedicated to racial equality.

So the press release listed here in terms of what was talked about. We told him the topic beforehand. He knew the topic beforehand. It was in the show tease. It was in the show intro. It was in the segment intro. So not blindsided, not ambushed.

Folk just disagree. But here was the point that this is really why Umar got. 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 Business Week. 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 multibillion-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 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. 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 uh ricky williams nfl player hasman trophy winner it's just a compassionate choice to allow players all reasonable means to care for themselves music stars marcus king john osborne for brothersborne. 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 iHeart radio app, Apple podcasts, 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 Podcasts. Somehow a white person can't understand our struggle? No way. I could care less what they understand. No way. I'm asking you, what have they done systematically to improve the opportunities of white folks?

He already told you that. He did not tell me that. Oh, yes, you did tell me that. He did not tell me that. You're going to tell me that guys like Tim Wise and Reverend Wallace don't understand race in America? What about Tim Wise? They don't understand race in America?

He articulates racism, but what has he done to systematically eliminate it? There are no white people that understand race in America. There's no white people. There's no white people. There's no white people understand race in America. There's no white people that understand race in America. There's not a white person. There's not a white person in America who has ever worked to systematically eliminate the white privilege that they benefit from vis-a-vis your oppression. You're lying.

You know, 190 million people in America. Eugene. So, we're not going to go there. You're calling me a liar and you're a coon. Well, it's a fact that you're lying. Watch how you talk to me. It's a fact that you're lying. Watch how I talk to you.

It's a fact that you're lying. I understand you want to defend white people. To say, to say, to say that, to say that. To say that. No, everybody, one second. Several things I don't allow. I don't allow the N-word. I don't allow coon.

We can talk to one another and disagree, but I do not use racial epithets against and that's fine But he called me no no no no no Racial epithets will not be used on this show and that's fine by anybody but how we don't know You can say whatever you want But no racial epithets will be used on this show about black people to black people Eugene your question So come on from your, from your perspective... That's really why he has an attitude. That's why he's running around mad and upset

because I checked him on that one. Oh, well, he called me a lie. Okay, fine. Call him a lie back. But you're not going to use racial epithets. But here is the biggest lie Umar Johnson told. Go ahead. He massacred, and that was the end of it. But I didn't appreciate what he did.

I thought it was a bitch move. I've been on your show plenty of times. You know, I'm driving down here from Philadelphia, taking time out of my busy schedule. I could be doing other things. And you used that time to try to insult me. But it backfired on him. And I think that's partly the reason why his show

was canceled by the end of the year because I'm very popular among black folks. I'm probably the most popular black scholar in modern history when it comes to mainstream black America, even though my views are considered rather controversial. And so when Roland Martin did that, I don't think he properly anticipated or calculated the collateral damage. But by the end of the year, he was off the television. Boy, bye. Let me explain to y'all what happened here. I got word

October that they were looking at either canceling the show or reducing the show to three days a week or once a week. So you know what I did? I actually put in and offered the takeover ownership of the show. Let me explain to you why. Because we had cable contracts, we could not internally stream stream any of the shows digitally. So I was watching Dish Nation on TV One. And I went, wait a minute. How is Dish Nation on broadcast TV

and we're airing it on TV One, but they're streaming it online? So I went to our affiliate people and they said, oh, that's because we license, we license Dish Nation. I said, really? So what you're telling me is that if we license a show, then we will only have the cable rights to that show. And that's it. They said, yes. I said, well, I got to work around. Because you got to remember, they only aired News 1 Now one time. They never, ever, they never, ever put it on VOD.

They didn't re-air. So if you missed the show and you didn't tape it, that was it. Now, we used to sit here and go guerrilla style and stream the show all the time, even though legal told us twice to take it down. That's another story. So I put a proposal in to say, why don't y'all allow me to take over ownership of the show, I will then license the show back to you,

and we'll set up a deal where your sales people handle the back end. I was trying to come up with a way around the no streaming rule. October goes by, I submit the proposal to Alfred Liggins, the CEO, D'Angelo Proctor, who was our SVP, programming. November goes by, I'm sending emails,

yo, hey, we gonna meet, we gonna meet, we gonna meet. Finally, December 9th, December gonna meet, we gonna meet, we gonna meet, finally, December 9th, December 7th, one of those days, Alfred calls me to a meeting. Alfred Liggins, the CEO, I'm sitting here on the couch, DeAngelo Proctor sitting right next to me, and Alfred Liggins, the CEO, tells me that he's canceling News 1 now because in 2018, he was refinancing the debt of the company

and he was slashing costs across the board because if they did not refinance the debt of Urban 1, he would be paying a much higher interest rate on the debt. That's why it was canceled. Even that nonsensical BS press release they said put out, oh, it got canceled because of low ratings, that was a lie. Alfred Liggins, the Angela Proctor, is sitting in the meeting. That's exactly what he told me. That's why the show was canceled.

Now, there's a thing called ratings. And the way ratings work is it's really an algorithm. And so every black person watching television doesn't count in a rating. Let me say it again. So, Omar, you think you're smart. You don't know jack about Nielsen or TV ratings. You know nothing. Oh, I got a big old audience.

No, it's an algorithm. And so, if you look at the number of black people who are in a Nielsen family, and the number of those black people who likely watch TV one, we would sometimes estimate as probably seven to 12 black people. And y'all might be saying, that's crazy. No, it's not. Because remember, they're tracking what people are watching all the time. Folks ain't watching us all the time. So we used to always joke, if one of those black families went to the bathroom or ran an errand or went to work early, man, our ratings would drop because you're only sampling a handful of people. So how do we know those things?

Well, it's because every single day they will send out ratings reports. They will literally send out these various reports showing us exactly what took place. How do I know that? Go to my email because I got them every single day. This is the report right here. These are daily ratings. You'll see they will show us right here, cross-comparison to our competitors, TB1, BET, Bounce, Centric, Own, Bravo, Lifetime, MTV2, Oxygen, Up, VH1, WeTV. It will show you the household, P25, 2554, household ratings, median age, all that sort

of stuff. But then they will also, inside of here, show you the overnight reports. And in the overnight reports, you see this is the summary. You see Monday overnight grid. This is the overnight grid. This right here is the Monday quarter hours. This is TV1 and competitive net ranking, meaning on that day, where did we rank among all of the shows? Hmm. This right here is the most important thing. That is the Monday quarter hours. As you can see, okay, you will see in the morning shows, we ran Ricky Smiley's show. Then there's News 1 now. This is the day that Uma was on. You see this here. Okay. We started the show out with a 0.14, 0.14, went up to a 0.18 and went to a 0.22, 0.22 the time we closed. So it then shows you household. It shows you all this sort of stuff. Now these are the

ratings. Okay. That was an excellent day for us. Okay. But then when you also, then when you go into the ratings, you all of a sudden go to other days and guess what? So let's write right here. This is July 24th, a couple of weeks later, all of a sudden you pull the overnight ratings up and then you look at the overnight ratings as they, as they, as they come up, they hit money quarter hours and guess what? 0.15, 0.17, 0.16, 0.16. Okay. Again, a decent day. Some days it was lower. Some days it was higher. And when I look at August 16th and I go into these ratings right here, when I look at right there. OK, this was a Monday, August 15th. Guess what? We had a pretty good day that day, which was again, it was one of those things where, OK, what's happening on that day?

Look at that. A point one six.15,.16,.16. Okay, you look at those numbers. Then you go to, again, you go to October 18th, September 27th. And the reason I'm doing this, y'all, is because I want you to see, because you need to see, y'all never get to see this kind of stuff. You never actually get to see how the sausage is made. Huh, on this day, 0.13, 0.4, 0.16, 0.18, 0.19. I mean, we got higher, higher as the show continues, on and on and on. That's what happens.

And so what happens? Your ratings go up. Your ratings go down. Based upon what happens on that day, what a person is doing, you don't know what the audience is doing. So they're going to tune in, they're going to tune out in batters. This right here, you see. 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 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 man.

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 podcast 0.13 0.14 0.12 0.12 so we can show oh right there you see how we went up right there

0.16 0.15 these things happen all the time. The reality is this, y'all. There are multiple days between when Umar came on and when the show was over, when we met or exceed the ratings when he was on. So Umar, I know this hurts your fragile ego, but you literally had nothing, zero, absolutely zero to do with the show getting canceled. We literally moved on the next day. You are not that important. And I know that messes with your ego. But it's true.

If you actually think you are the reason why the show ended? When Alfred Ligon said point blank, our show was a $5 million nut right there on the Excel spreadsheet and it was easier to cut $5 million out of the budget to meet his financial target and that's why the show got canceled. So here's the whole deal. Stop lying. Stop running around with your big ego and making stuff up. Go build your school. Go teach the students. Keep running your mouth on social media.

Go give speeches. What you're not going to do is keep lying about what happened on the show. Because everything that you said was a flat out lie, Umar. It was a lie then and it's a lie now. Now, Matt, the reason I decided to take the time to do this here because it's clear that what we have going on, we got people who love to just make up stuff. And I hate dealing with mess, but the problem I have is this here, and I've always said this here, and when I run the Breakfast Club, I said this here to Charlamagne, DJ Envy,

and Angela Yee. I have great respect for the microphone, because what I understand is that what comes out of your mouth and comes through this microphone then goes to the public, and the public can choose to believe it or not believe it. And it's incumbent upon anybody who has a microphone to have respect and reverence for the microphone and not make shit up. You a lawyer. There are sanctions if a lawyer goes into a courtroom and makes stuff up. Unfortunately, in media, nothing happens to most people because the lie gets told and folks just run with it. Well, and beyond that, unfortunately, that's a lot of times what people want to see is they want to see division. They want to see drama. They want to see, you know, an exacerbation of a beef,

if you call it that. I don't really have anything to add beyond. They want to see, you know, an exacerbation of a beef, if you'll call it that. I don't really have anything to add beyond. I mean, of course, any person is going to naturally feel like they need to defend themselves as somebody saying something dishonest or is mischaracterizing the truth of what happened. I would just say that, you know, hopefully this is the last time you have to address this and the last time it is addressed because we have much bigger fish to fry as a black community than issues like this. And I'm glad that you were able to show what truthfully happened as it relates to booking and all of that. But beyond that, I mean, we have way bigger issues. Of course. Democracy is taken from us right now. And we need to not focus on such matters. So I'm glad you did what you need to do. But I think it's time

to move on. First of all, I mean, I'm the reason I don't need to address it again, Kelly, because one, once you lay it out and you show the emails and you show what's factual, then that's it. But what I need our people to understand is don't get caught up in somebody else's narcissistic ego and gossip. And that, to me, is what oftentimes to happen where folk don't want to deal with reality, but they want to see the fight. And I got some people, and that, to me, is the fundamental problem that we often see. And for me,

you know what? If you lie, we're just going to tell the truth and just call it the liars. What I appreciate about what you did, Rowan, excuse me, is that you came with receipts. That, we already knew what was going to happen. But what I appreciate is the fact that what you do not let happen is let soundbites replace truth, right? And that needs to be brought back in journalism in general, meaning people need to really respect true journalism and not go for soundbites and not just go for people who they

find appealing and marketable, whatever. I personally believe that 2024 will be the year of receipts. I think 2024 will be the year of standing on business because it's only been five days and it's just coming out the woodwork of things and people just not letting lies stand, not letting reputations get jeopardized because somebody was in their feelings this one day. And I have a lot of respect for you for that. Obviously, this is your show and you're going to say whatever, but I definitely just wanted to put that out there regarding that. Now, regarding Umar Johnson specifically, I always say this about him, that he is a broken clock

and that he is right twice a day. This was neither of those times. You know, Michael, after this, a lot of his people are on my social media page, sending me emails, and man, it need to be a part two. Umar's saying the same thing. He wants to be in the chat room right now. I say it then, I say it now. Umar Johnson will never be on my show again.

Why? Because I'm not entertaining narcissistic, egomaniacal folks. When you lie like he has done for six years, why would I bring you back on my show? Why? And he's right. There were no issues beforehand, but he was angry at the two of the panelists disagreed with him. Dude, it happens. Everybody not going to agree with you. It happens. And so

the bottom line is, and you're not beyond getting questioned, but to the people out there who said, man, you need to bring them on. Y'all need to. And this also kills me, Mike, when they say, no, man, we shouldn't have two black men fighting. They should be working together. No. No. Go do what you do. You're not in my lane. Go do what you do. You can go do what you do and help black people. I can go do what I do. But what I don't have to do is bring you back on the platform and deal with more foolishness. It's completely unnecessary and it ain't going to happen. So let me address it like this because I'm not going to get involved in the back and forth. I know you, Roland, for years. I've known Umar for years. I actually met Umar

before I met you, Roland. I met Umar back in 2012 here in Detroit. I've worked with Umar in the past in various capacities, had him on the African History Network show a number of times. I think about two years ago, we were both on Tammy Mack's show on the Fox old TV network with crazy ass Reverend Jesse Lee Peterson. So, you know, if it's a situation where, and this is something my teachers taught me, Professor James Small, Dr. Leonard Jeffries, and Professor Kabahaiwatha Kamenei. For me personally, if it's a situation where I have a disagreement with somebody, something like that, if it's Omar or somebody else, you know, I'm going to pick up the phone and call them. I totally understand what you're doing, Roland, because it's your show. And the first incident happened on your show.

So I'm not criticizing that. But you may. This is just a suggestion. I'm not saying you have to do it You may at some point Try to reach out to Umar Not to bring him back on the show But just to have a conversation Because one thing I do agree with

Is that To have Two brothers like this And Dr. Cleo Monago Made this point as well And it may have been you and Omar or you and somebody else. To have—and this is not criticism of either one of you—but to have two brothers that have a following, have stature, have a public disagreement, whether it's—not taking sides, but whether it's misunderstood or whether somebody is misstating something, whatever it is, is not healthy for the community in general. That's my point. Actually, here's what I here's what I believe is healthy for the community.

I believe that what is healthy for the community is when somebody lie publicly, they be corrected publicly. Now, he said six years not to lie. He's lied for six years. So, and here's the other deal. I ain't blocked Umar. Oh, he blocked me. So, I don't deal with the little petulant stuff. No, I don't make that phone. Here's why I don't make that phone call. We don't make that phone call because The reason I don't make that phone call, because it's completely unnecessary. It's unnecessary, again, because a person shows their character by how they respond. He literally threw a fit. I mean, numerous posts trashing me and the show, calling us all kinds of names, you name it.

I'm talking about, I mean, his people were on my page for a year after that. I still get people, man, you did Umar wrong. Why? Because we had him on the show and had him answer questions. But when your ego is so utterly ridiculous and that you lie, sorry. I mean, what I don't tolerate are massive liars. And again, let me be perfectly clear, and I've said this about all these other people.

I don't, they can go do whatever they want to do. All of them, Tariq, Boyce, Phillip, Umar, Vicky, all of them, they can go do whatever they want to do. I don't need to go on their shows. I don't need to talk to them. I don't need to have them on here. We're going need to talk to them. I don't need to have them on here. We're going to keep doing the work. But I've said this perfectly clear, and Matt's right,

I'm only addressing this because it came up on the Joe Button podcast, and I didn't have to dedicate this much time. But the reason I'm dedicating this much time is because what I need our people to understand is that you judge a person by their character. I showed you the receipts. He's flat out lying. Now, he wants to keep lying. Knock yourself out. But what cannot happen, what will not happen is that somebody spread lies and think they're not going to get corrected. Simple as that. But also, black people aren't a monolith. Like, you've had people on your show who are conservative. You've had people on your show who are liberal.

And you disagree with them just as much as anybody else, respectfully. And I remember that clip clearly because Eugene is a friend of mine. We both went to Bowie State together. And while we did not always get along because of our political views, by and large, the respect has always been there, because we are not monolithic and we can come together and have discussion. And I'm assuming that that was the hope for that particular show with the panel, yourself, and Dr. Johnson.

And people are going to disagree. That's fine. I mean, I got no problem with disagreement. Right. But moreover, you are respectful in that disagreement. When Dr. Johnson, and I use that term loosely, called Eugene a coon, that's where the decorum went out the window.

Like, he bought into that. He initiated the disrespect by calling someone outside their name, whether you believe that or not. Well, and again, you could disagree any way you want to. I'm not going to elaborate your epitaphs. But I'm going to say this. I think this is finally important.

Somebody said in the chat, Roland, your back and forth with Umar had some of the highest, was one of the most viewed on YouTube. Let me explain something to y'all. I don't do clickbait. Now, let me explain to you what that means. There have been numerous opportunities for me to do what I consider to be messy discussions that are going to generate lots of views. I've said no. By the way, the Umar back and forth,

when that show six years ago, that's not the most viewed video we've ever had. In fact, y'all want to know what's actually the most viewed? If y'all want to understand the importance of topics, the most viewed segment I've ever had was when cancer doctor Hadiyah Nicole Green, I put her on television for her first TV appearance. That interview with her has exceeded 15 million views. Double the number of people who watched the Umar interview.

Why do I say that? We were talking about curing cancer. We were showcasing a brilliant black woman who has come up with a way to get rid of cancer. Folks, that's called impact. And what I've done, I've invited her to numerous opportunities to meet with people, to meet with billionaires, to meet with others, to help her raise the $30 million for her foundation. She's trying to raise the money because she doesn't want to take money from pharmaceuticals. I'm saying that because what I need people watching to understand is we need to get out of. And matter of fact, somebody tweeted this and I loved, I loved, loved, loved this comment that I read the other day. And it really was because they were talking about matter of fact, I think this person was talking about

that podcast interview. And the person said this here. And I think it nailed it. And what she said was, she said, I enjoy conversations about evolution, history, art, education. What may affect me within the next five years on an interpersonal level piques my curiosity. But all this shit that's for engagement, not enlightenment, nope. All of this stuff that's for engagement and not enlightenment.

Our goal with this show and the stuff that we do, yes, we have fun. Yeah, we joke. I know it's Kappa's anniversary today and I would play the video of them dropping canes. Yeah, we love having the fun back and forth. But that's the whole point, folks. It is about enlightenment. It's about teaching. It's about understanding. When we as black people get so locked into gossip and the fighting back and forth and all this sort of stuff, what do we gain from that? Seriously, what do we gain from it?

What do we gain when the folks are going back and forth in a fight? What do we actually gain from it? I need our people to understand in 2024. Matt talked about it. There are major issues on the table. And there's a lot of stuff that's serious. And you know what? I don't believe in being serious all the time. I believe in laughing and having fun and doing lighthearted segments.

But if there's one thing that television has always loved, that radio has always loved, that social media has always loved, they love when black people are spending so much time on gossip and mess that we're not paying attention to all the other real stuff that's happening. And if we actually applied the amount of time that we spend on gossip and mess to real stuff, man, you would see a completely different black America. And our goal, the Black Star Network, is to be that platform. You want real conversations and real solutions? We'll have them.

If you want minstrel shows and you want ego battles and you want all that, not interested because we don't understand what we need. But I told y'all my philosophy has been the same. If you do good, I'll talk about you. If you do bad, I'll talk about you. The end of the day, I'll talk about you. Just do one thing. Don't lie on me. Then you got a problem. I'll be right back. This week on The Black Table. 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.

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 ban 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. Me, Greg Carr. Reparation. Is it finally time? Two of the country's foremost authorities on the subject will join me to try to answer that very question. Powerful installment of The Black Table with me, Greg Carr, right here, only on the Black Star Network. Next on The Frequency, we're talking Black women in fashion. My guest, Renee Wilson, is speaking on the challenges of starting her own fashion line. So I wanted to really be able to design the clothes, but add a modern twist to it so that we could wear these patterns in everyday wear and not just reserve it for our formal ceremony.

That's next on The Frequency on the Black Star Network. Hello, I'm Marissa Mitchell, a news anchor at Fox 5 DC. Hey, what's up? It's Tammy Roman, and you are watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. Sophia Rowland has been missing from her Tacoma, Washington home since December 6th. The 13-year-old is 5 feet 5 inches tall, weighs 135 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes. Any more information about Sophia Rowland is urged to call the Tacoma Washington Police Department at 253-287-4455, 253-287-4455. A 2023 job market ended better than expected.

December's job support showed employers adding 216,000 positions for the month and the unemployment rate held at 3.7%. The black unemployment rate dropped to 5.2%. The black male rate dropped nearly two points to 4.6%, while women remained at 4.8%. The Giles report brought 2023 job gains to $2.7 million, or a monthly average of $225,000, down from $4.8 million, or three hundred ninety nine thousand a month in 2022. That's more than 14 million jobs added since President Biden took office. The most of any president in any term.

I must say, Michael, all the folks who were yelling recession, recession, recession. I swear we heard that for 15 months didn't happen. And also inflation is now at pre-pandemic levels. Oh, didn't they say Bidenomics was never going to work? Yeah, they said Bidenomics was never going to work. And some of those same people are the ones who are supporting Donald Trump. There's some of the same ones who helped to orchestrate the insurrection—and try to overturn election results in the House of Representatives, people like Mike Johnson, House of Representatives Mike Johnson, Republican

from Louisiana. So, I find it very interesting that the same people who root for America, for the American economy to fall, are some of the same people who are embracing authoritarianism and supporting Donald Trump. OK, so these people have to be defeated November 2024. But this is another good jobs report. You know, I get a kick out of these these stuck on stupid people. Kelly, I got some food. Vincent G. or here comes Rolanda caping for Biden. get a kick out of these stuck on stupid people, Kelly. I got some fool, Vincent G,

or here comes Rolando caping for Biden. No, it's called facts. It's actually called facts. And see, what you have here are people who Inflation Reduction Act. Oh, Republicans yell, that's not gonna do anything for the inflation. It did. It did.

It did. So make up your mind, okay? You can't give Trump credit for jobs, but then say, oh, no, no, no, no, they don't count for Biden. You can't say, oh, wait a minute, black unemployment was this under Trump, but it's lower under Biden. No, no, no, Biden ain't got nothing to do with that. Make up your mind. Well, they can't make up their minds because they go where the propaganda and

the lies are in order to feel relevant in discussions like this. The fact of the matter is the Inflation Reduction Act is doing its job. The fact of the matter is the jobs report have consistently been positive for the duration of Biden's administration. The fact of the matter is that everything regarding recession, regarding fear, is just that. It is fear. It is fear-mongering. It is propaganda-pushing, because the agenda is that they don't want Biden in office. And if Democrats stay on the ball and keep the narrative of what Biden's administration has been doing, what legislation has been able to do, we will have a positive 2024 election. And that's all I can ask for at this moment, because it's not even about getting better. We need to stabilize in order to get to better at this point.

You know what? This was real interesting here. This was a conversation on CNBC, because Matt, all we kept hearing, the economy is awful, the economy is awful, the economy is awful. Listen to this. 36 months of job growth. I think 20-plus of sub-4% unemployment as we stay at 3.7. Yeah, I mean, it's 2.7 million jobs added in the full year. It's just a great economy, and there's nothing you can do about it. It's a great economy. Okay, and you can do about it. It's a great economy.

OK, so that's what I'm laughing about. There's nothing you can do about it. It's a great economy. Isn't that what we want? Yeah, yeah, it's exactly what we want. And it's funny we're talking about this today because The Atlantic did a podcast episode called Why a Good Economy Feels Like a Bad One. I haven't listened to it yet, but my understanding is the premise is that the metrics show that the economy is doing well, but the sentiment in the country is that the economy is not doing well. And to Kelly's point,

I think some of that is the natural byproduct of propaganda, but also people, frankly, not knowing how to evaluate the actual metrics and buying whatever echo chamber version of the economy being good or bad, they're being presented with and not looking at the numbers on paper. What I did think was interesting about this, though, is part of this boom was 52,000 new government jobs. And I'm wondering what the phenomena is behind why that would happen in December. I would see that maybe with retail or somewhere else. But I thought that was an interesting metric. But I think this is a good thing. And once people recognize that it's actually a good thing, then we can settle into some of those fears being allayed.

But see, here's the thing here, Michael, and this is what people have to understand. First of all, if all you get from the right wing is doom and gloom, and I need people to understand that Fox News ranks as one of the top cable networks, not cable news networks, top networks. So now you're getting that constant drumbeat, awful, terrible, bad, sucks, awful, gas prices too high, food too high, eggs $10 a dozen, constant, constant. And then the conservative radio.

And then all of a sudden, then when you watch television shows, send a reporter out to a gas station to show when gas is $5 a gallon. Oh, gas dropped to $2.79. Don't send a reporter out. So when you have that constant deal, and remember, I swear, for at least 15 months, every day, recession, recession. Remember, Jamie Dimon, Jimmy Morgan, Jeff Bezos, Amazon, Goldman Sachs. They were all saying, recession's coming. Recession's coming.

So what happened? Amazon cut. Meta cut. Facebook cut. Obviously, it's not cut and cut. Here comes a recession. It never came. Exactly.

It's the propaganda of the media. And for Republicans, basically, their number one news source is Fox News. So they're listening to this doom and gloom on Fox News, and they repeat it. Then it's reinforced by a white conservative right-leaning talk radio, OK? So once again, this is why facts matter. This is why the Black Star Network matters. And I would encourage people to read this document, fact sheet, how the Inflation Reduction

Act helps black communities. It's at whitehouse.gov. And it goes through and it shows you how the Inflation Reduction Act that no Republicans in the House or the Senate voted for. And the only reason why this bill passed in the Senate is because Vice President Kamala Harris was the tie-breaking vote, OK? Because the vice president presides over the Senate. This is why this passed. It talks about law and prescription drugs. It talks about diabetes drugs. It talks about lowering prescription drugs. It talks about diabetes drugs. It talks about climate change and dealing with energy, things like this, and climate change,

combat climate change and lower energy costs. It takes you through step by step and shows you how the Inflation Reduction Act that no Republicans in the House or Senate voted for are helping the African-American community. So if Republicans say they're so good for African-Americans, where are your policies? Where are they? Show them to us. And why didn't you get any of them passed in the House of Representatives in 2023 when you only got 27 bills passed in the House? You didn't even get a budget passed in the House.

We're on the second continuing resolution. The government could shut down possibly in February if they don't pass a budget. OK, so Gain recognizes Gain. Proper documentation ends all conversation. The government could shut down possibly in February if they don't pass a budget, okay? So, game recognizes game. Proper documentation ends all conversation. The thing here for me, Kelly, and I love these people, man, you just out here, you just in their pocket. Man, they're your handlers.

I mean, what are you doing? Because I'm paying attention. It's because I'm not dumb. It's because I'm not dumb. I also know how to read. Now, am I denying the reality that there are people in the country hurting? Absolutely not. But if I'm correct, because I know I am, because we covered it, during the budget negotiations, the Republican Party literally wanted to slash food benefits to 80% to women and children. 80%. For all y'all out there who act like the $132

billion in student loan debt was forgiven, it wasn't a big deal. Guess who wants drastic cuts to Pell Grants? Republicans. Guess how most black kids go to college? Pell Grants, financial aid. What the hell do y'all think is going to happen if they get control? Mike Johnson right now is fighting the Republicans in the House because they want to completely restructure the farm bill because that's the snap benefits.

So who are we kidding here? So for all y'all people who sit in here, man, there you go. A riot with Biden. I got two choices here, Kelly. I got two choices. I got Biden, Harris, and Democrats, and I got Republicans and Trump over here. Hmm, which one of those folks is probably gonna do something for regular, ordinary people? Now, let me be real clear.

I could be like a whole bunch of these conservatives, like, that's not my tax bracket. I'm good with those tax cuts. But I know damn well it hurts our people. Here's the thing. All I can do is echo the sentiments that you just stated.

What I find even more ironic is that the people who What I find even more ironic is that the people who are conservatives themselves, like, they are the ones—like, most—a lot of conservatives in this country are the ones who need SNAP. A lot of the conservatives in this country are the ones who need Medicare, who are the ones who actually benefit the most from affordable health care and the Affordable Health Care Act. In fact, there was an article not too long ago, I think it was within the last week or so, where they were talking to conservatives and they were saying how they don't want to vote for Biden again,

but they also want to keep the health care benefits that they have. And they are literally in a conundrum about this, because they are just now realizing that should they vote for a Trump or a Trump equivalent, that those things will go away. So how are they going to get their medicine? How are they going to get their treatment? It is fascinating to me the cognitive dissonance between what their ideology is and who's actually helping them. I mean, Matt, his was a perfect example. We saw it this week. Drug manufacturers now come out and go, we're going to be capping insulin at $35.

Matt, do you know why that happened? Because the Democrats in the House and the Senate, every Republican voted against capping of insulin. In fact, the Republicans want to repeal that, and they want to go back to where seniors can be charged $400, $800 a month for insulin. This is a perfect example. This is a perfect example of the priorities of two different people. One party, Republicans, say no caps, charge seniors up the wazoo because we need the corporate profits of big pharma to be huge. Democrats say no.

Cap insulin at 35 bucks for people on Medicare. That's where it should be. It's real clear. Like, every Republican voted against capping insulin. What do they think is going to happen, Matt,

if the Republicans control the White House, the House, and the Senate? You get rid of those insulin caps, they're gone. I would agree, but what defies logic is why people continue supporting, as Kelly alluded to earlier, continue supporting policies and politicians whose ideologies are directly contradictory to their lives. Because Howard Dean said in 2004, God, gays, and guns.

And in 2024, caravans, caravans, here they come. They're illegals. Here they coming. While your ass is getting fleeced. Because you know who also loves those illegal immigrants who love those migrants coming over? All those folks who employ them. And a lot of them are conservative company owners. Matt, go ahead.

And all of these people who like to go to HEB and pay less for their produce. I mean, let's just keep it real. They want that migrant labor, but they want the political capital to say that they're against it. And that's really what it comes down to. See, a lot of these conversations presume that there's continuity in these ideological positions, but there isn't.

There's a moving goalpost. There's a state's rights unless it's you don't like it, right? There's a we're against welfare, but it's okay if those good white Midwestern farmers need subsidies. We don't call that welfare, but we call welfare if it looks like somebody like us who needs help. So the reality is we're not talking about ideological continuity. And to your point, right now, there are very clear lines of demarcation. But it's interesting you bring up health care in particular, because that's one of the things that always surprises me, that it is not a line in the sand, especially for seniors in this nation, right? It is so expensive, healthcare. It's absurd how we treat it as a commodity. But it's

surprising to me that people keep voting for conservatives hook, line, and sinker, despite their promulgation of this system that doesn't democratize healthcare. And to me, I don't understand how we as people, as a whole, are not saying, hey, that's where we draw the line. We should all at least be able to be healthy. But to your point, there are two very clear camps. And I don't know how long that's going to persist. But I see it especially here in Texas, a lot of those contradictions where they're continuing to vote for people whose interests are directly countered to theirs. Last point I want to make, because there was somebody who was on the YouTube channel and they were talking about,

oh my goodness, gas prices are so high. Let me help you all out. Do you know what contributes mostly to high gas prices? State taxes. So when you're blaming Biden, Harris, or Democrats, or even if you're blaming the Republican, it ain't the federal government, y'all. Because let me also help y'all out, okay?

And here's the deal. Stop believing the Republican lie. Are y'all aware that the United States, listen to me carefully right now. Matter of fact, y'all are that the United States, listen to me carefully right now. Matter of fact, y'all are not going to believe me. I'm just going to type this in. U.S. produces record oil levels. I'm typing this in.

See, this is what happens when y'all need to stop, listen to the right wing, set the narrative, and for you to believe it. Hmm. December 1st, 2023, New York Times. Go to my iPad. Surging U.S. oil production brings down prices and raises climate fears. American oil production is hitting record levels. Uh-oh, uh-oh, uh-uh, look at that y'all. That's a chart. It goes from 1920 to 2023. The United States is producing 12 million barrels of oil per day. Let me tell you what happens with the oil companies.

Y'all, I am from Houston, Texas. It is the petrochemical capital of the world. When oil prices are low, oil companies are not making as much money. Mm-hmm. 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. 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 thing is. Benny the Butcher. Brent Smith from Shinedown. We got B-Real from Cypress Hill.

NHL enforcer Riley Cote. Marine Corps vet. 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. I hate low gas prices. When oil prices are high, they love it. OPEC. When OPEC meets and they say they're cutting oil production, when Russia announces they're cutting oil production,

it's because they want to make more money. You lower the amount of oil being produced, higher demand, higher prices. So when y'all, we are yelling, gas too high. Y'all, that's because, remember they were mad at Biden? He's depleting the U.S. oil reserves. It's now back to the levels. Don't fall for the okey-doke people.

And Matt, this is the last comment for all the panelists. And this is what I'm talking about here. And somebody said this about another issue. Actually, somebody made this point. We need to stop reading headlines and actually get real facts and information. But that's happening all too often. We see a headline, we see a meme, and people run with it.

And it drives me crazy. And I think that's one of the reasons why Biden's numbers are so low. It's because all we have heard for three years is the economy is tanking, it's tanking, it's going to tank, it's going to tank. People are guiding, like, they're raising interest rates. Matt, interest rates couldn't stay at zero percent for another 10 damn years. I mean, they were already low for 15 years. This is basic economics, but unfortunately, people are caught emotionally, and that's what's driving a lot of this narrative.

And it's confirmation bias. I mean, just like you showed the clip with Jim Cramer earlier, unfortunately, it's a good economy. When it comes to Mr. Biden, especially with him having very low approval ratings, there are people not only looking for everything to attack him on, but looking for everything to not attribute to his administration, even if it's positive. And that's what you have. You have the echo chambers about, just like you talked about, algorithms. If you get on social media, everything that is sent to you is based on, obviously, what you've looked at before. But a lot of that stuff will characterize

everything in the light that it thinks will be most receptive to you. And to Michael's point earlier, people who watch Fox News, I mean, Fox News does the most mental gymnastics to try to find a way to make objectively good things bad if they're attributed to Mr. Biden and the inverse with Mr. Trump. So it behooves us to really be looking at the metrics to determine for ourselves what the truth is as it relates to the economy and any other issue.

So I'll go back to my iPad. Kelly, it says it right here. With the surge in output, gasoline prices have fallen by close to $2 a gallon since the summer of 2022 and are back to levels that prevail in 2021. For all the people who were talking about, remember we were talking about, remember eggs, and people were going crazy, oh my God, oh my God, eggs are $10 a dozen, well, first of all, you had the plants where 100,000 chickens were killed, then you had this here, again, people were like, oh my goodness, what actually happened here?

Guess what? Go to my iPad. There literally was, give me one second. Give me one second. Come back to me. Come back to me. Let me fix this here. There was a trial, Kelly.

There was a trial. Now go back. Cal Maine, the country's biggest egg producer, got hit, y'all, in a price-fixing case. They were price-fixing the cost of eggs. Right. They were ordered to pay. It's right here, y'all. It's right here. They were price-fixing.

So when people go, damn it, Biden, eggs are too high. When you got the largest egg producer in the country, where a jury concluded, it's right here. They allege that egg producers engage in a conspiracy to reduce supply in an attempt to increase the price of eggs. This included exporting eggs to reduce the overall supply in the domestic market and limiting the number of chickens through means including cave space and flock reduction. That's what they were doing, Kelly. I can only imagine how many other industries do something similar, and that is why our

prices are the way they are. You know, America is historically known to be like the land of opportunity and surplus and things that other countries don't have. So when we have, you know, orange juice that's $6 a gallon or eggs that are $10 a carton. I never think that it's because of an actual shortage. I always think that it's because somebody is hiking the price to basically be greedy. But all that to say, in this case, certainly has nothing to do with Biden. It has everything to do with greed.

And if you want people to be greedy and stay greedy, vote for the Republicans, because that's what the their whole shtick is about. Being conservative with their money and making other people spend theirs. Well, and I'm going to leave us on this one here, Matt. Excuse me, Michael. And this is what's important right here. Robert Wright talked about this here. He said in 1989, the super rich held $472 billion in unrealized capital gains. In 2022, that figure was $8.5 trillion. If people want to understand why the super rich support Republicans, why Republicans hate the IRS, why they want to get rid of those additional IRS

agents, because those IRS agents are going after the super rich, how they have been cheating the American economy. And for every person who's watching and listening right now, guess what? You are paying 27, 30, 32, 35, 39, 43% in taxes. And they're sitting here because how this game work gains work is, oh, these are unrealized gains, but they actually have it. They go out and take out loans and credit lines and live off the credit line because they have these unrealized capital gains. They never want to see these capital gains, these unrealized capital gains taxed. And so again, y'all is right here. It's gone from $472 billion to $8.5 trillion, and they do not want that tax

code change because that helps line their pockets. Yeah, former Secretary Robert Wright is correct. And Donald Trump's $2 trillion tax cut to the rich helped them as well. And we know Donald Trump added about $8.2 trillion to the national debt in four years. But the point I was trying to make just a few minutes ago, Roland, when you talked about Democrats and Republicans, just very quickly here, a lot of people, especially some African Americans, are talking about voting third party for president.

And I want people to know that no third party candidate has won a single electoral college vote since 1968, when Governor George Wallace of Alabama won 46 electoral college votes. It takes 270 electoral college votes to become president. You get to 270 by winning the popular votes in the state, and that's how you get the electoral college votes associated with the state. And if no candidate reaches 270, because, say, you have a third-party candidate, then it's decided by the House of Representatives, they vote by delegation. There are 50 delegations in the House. Republicans control 26 out of 50.

You just need 26 to declare president. So if Trump loses the popular vote and the Electoral College vote, Republicans who control the House could vote for him based upon delegation, and he could become president again. People don't understand how serious this is. People need to read the U.S. Constitution. Or just read something. All right. Matt, Kelly, Matt, and Michael, I appreciate y'all being with us on my first day back in 2024.

Thank you so very much. Let me also thank Candace. Who else filled in while I was gone? Candace filled in. Greg Carr filled in. Is that it? Anybody else? Anybody else filled in while I was gone? Candace filled in. Greg Carr filled in. Is that it? Anybody else? Anybody else filled in? Michael, calm down.

Michael, I got you. Calm down. I'm asking Carol. Chill out. I filled in. Okay, I got you. I'm getting to you, too. That's why I asked Carol.

So let me thank Candace, Greg, and Michael for filling in while I was on vacation, folks. Actually, it was the longest vacation I've ever taken. I haven't taken two weeks. My longest before was 10 days. So I needed to chill, unwind, because it's going to be a crazy 2024. All right, folks. That's it for us. We appreciate you watching the show.

Don't forget, support us in what we do. We are out here doing what's right. We're not dealing with lies. We're not dealing with all this little silliness. We're talking about facts. You can understand how this world impacts you and affects you. And so,

please, your support for us doing this is critical. So, Jordan, I bring the Funk Fan Club. We set this up because when we launched this show, September 4th, 2018, I did not want to charge a subscription fee. I did not want to go to Patreon

and only say donors can watch this content. Now, some people have done that. They made lots of money. I wanted this content widely available to the masses. And that's why we do what we do. And so we're not charging for it. We make our money off of advertising. We make our money off of your donations. That's just straight up fact. That's how we make our money. And so when you support us, when you send that check, a money order, when you sit here and donate via Cash App, PayPal, these platforms, I'm telling you right now, it's huge for us. The money that you have sent has paid for television screens, has paid for staff, has paid for travel, has paid for cameras, has paid for stuff getting fixed. And so everything in here, everything in here, I launched

this with $350,000 of my own money and one sponsor, and we built this, but we can't. And again, our costs are $195,000 a month for everything. All shows, all producers, all staff, all freelancers, rent, you name it. That's what the costs are. The costs are real. And so that's why we ask for your support. Our goal is very simple to get 20,000, 20,000 of our fans contribute as much as they want to, as less as possible, as long as we get to that million-dollar goal, that's really where our goal is. And so we said, hey, 20,000 of you contribute on average 50 bucks, which comes out to be $4.19 a month, 13 cents a day.

And we hit that $1 million goal. And so you can do so by contributing to Cash App. Dallas and RM Unfiltered, PayPal, Martin Unfiltered, Venmo's RM Unfiltered, Zelle, Roland at RolandSMartin.com, Roland at RolandMartinUnfiltered.com. Again, P.O. Box 57196, Washington, D.C., 20037-0196. Folks, I'll see y'all on Monday right here on the Black Shed Network. 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 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. 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 know a lot of cops. They get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun?

Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. This is Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. Listen to Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Lott. Incorporated on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. We met them at their homes. We met them at their recording studios. Stories matter and it brings a face to it. It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

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