#RolandMartinUnfiltered - Mobilizing Black voters; Biden-Trump debate; Barrett SCOTUS nom advances; Iran threatens Dems

Episode Date: October 23, 2020

10.22.20 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: Mobilizing Black voters; Biden/Trump debate preview; Amy Coney Barrett SCOTUS nomination advances; Former Pres. Barack Obama endorses Shreveport Mayor Adrian Perkins in the Louisiana Senate race; High Court allows Alabama's curbside voting; Government says Iran threatened Dems via email; Judge drops third-degree murder charge Derek Chauvin. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. Listen to Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated, on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Glott. And this is Season 2 of the War on Drugs podcast. Last year, a lot of the problems of the drug war. This year, a lot of the biggest names in music and sports. This kind of starts that a little bit, man.

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We asked parents who adopted teens to share their journey. We just kind of knew from the beginning that we were family. They showcased a sense of love that I never had before. I mean, he's not only my parent, like, he's like my best friend. At the end of the day, it's all been worth it. I wouldn't change a thing about our lives. Learn about adopting a teen from foster care. Visit AdoptUSKids.org to learn more. Brought to you by AdoptUSKids, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the Ad Council. Today is Thursday, October 22nd, 2020. Coming up on Roland Martin, unfiltered labor leaders, community and athletic organizations

are joined together to get African Americans to the polls. We'll talk about it with the leaders of those groups, including AFSCME and the NBA. Mayor Adrian Perkins of Shreveport, Louisiana, will be here to talk about his Senate race against incumbent Republican Senator Bill Cassidy. Joe Biden and Donald Trump face off for one last time tonight in Nashville, Tennessee. We'll talk about the debate. Also, the Senate Judiciary Committee approves Amy Coney Barrett's nomination today without participation from Democrats. They boycotted that, but also they moved forward five other nominees, including a 33-year-old white woman eight years out of law school for a lifetime appointment to the federal bench.

The Supreme Court has reinstated Alabama's prohibition of curbside voting, while the Texas Supreme Court says no to the GOP trying to end it there. The government says Iran is behind threatening emails being sent to Democrats, but also Russia has access accessed local voting areas. We'll tell you about that as well. Plus, third-degree murder charges against Derek Chauvin have been dropped for the murder of George Floyd. Plus, the latest anti-Trump ads. Folks, it is time to bring the funk. On Roller Mark, unfiltered, black-owned. Let's go. With entertainment just for kicks He's rolling It's Uncle Roro, y'all It's Rolling Martin

Rolling with rolling now He's funky, he's fresh, he's real The best you know, he's Rolling Martin The American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees are actively working to engage their members in the 2020 election. They're working with community organizations like Black Leaders Organizing for Communities and the NBA Players Association to make sure we show up at the polls. Here's an example of the voter engagement

as they are running across the country. I thought I caught my first felony when I was 17 years old. I felt like basically I just, I didn't count. My probation told me, you can't vote, you got a felony. It just made me feel like I wasn't wanted or I wasn't supposed to be involved. My mama told me like, Sam, you need to be, get involved. There's a lot of things going on in the world.

Your voice matter. And I'm like, I can't, I ain't got no voice. I can't vote. And she's like, oh yeah, yes you can. So I called my lawyers because I wanted to make sure that I wasn't doing anything wrong. And I figured out I qualified. I just felt like, damn, let's do it. To me, it was an accomplishment.

Like, damn, like I graduated high school. So look what we done so far it still need to be ten times better but I got a vote that's what changed the rules that's to change the laws I really felt good about like because I was told I couldn't I was told I wouldn't be able to clean up or get away from my past and look where I'm at now. I voted. And I was able to be a part of where I live,

which is here at home in America. My voice mattered. All right, folks, joining me now is Lee Sonners. He is president of AFSCME, Angela Lang, executive director of Block, and Raymond Paltry, executive director of the Florida Alliance. Lee, I'll start with you. First and foremost, how are you partnering with NBA Players Association and others? And of course, we just read that ad there, but what other types of things are y'all doing to

drive Black participation in the election? Well, we have folks organizing and mobilizing and educating their communities. You're going to hear from a couple of folks today who are doing just that in Florida and in Wisconsin and across the country. And what we're trying to do, Roland, is to educate our communities and make sure that they understand the importance of voting in this election. Our members, our 1.4 million members, are engaged across the country. We're making phone calls. We're doing digital calls. We're having teletown hall meetings. We aren doing digital calls. We're having tele town hall meetings. We aren't knocking on doors because of the coronavirus. But we're doing things in a different kind of way to make that kind of necessary contact. This is the most important

election in our lifetime. Make no mistake about it. And especially as it impacts on the African American community. And people have got to understand the importance of the right to vote and being involved and making their voices heard. And that's exactly what we're trying to do in our communities across the country. On that particular point there, Angela, as Lee laid out, it is much different than previous elections, where normally there are outdoor events reaching folks that way. But do you think in some ways you're reaching more people this way, as opposed to, you know, you might have an event, it might be a couple hundred folks there, but with digital penetration and cell phones and calls direct, talk about that. Yeah, we know that we had to get creative in our strategy, but we also know that this can watch those things and to have those conversations

and provide direct influence and questions to the candidates in that moment. And we know that this is a tough year. So we've had to actually balance the digital sense and kind of the old school tactics, bus ads, billboards, things like that, because we also know that there's a little bit of a tech gap in our community. And if we know that people are struggling, you know, our services like phones and internet being disconnected. So we really try to strike that balance of, you know, making sure that we have flyers, you know, in gas stations, or we're dropping literature on people's houses. We're not knocking, we're not having those conversations, but people are still getting that tangible information and hopefully getting a digital touch as well.

And so using both of those strategies, I think, is really important in trying to reach as many people as possible. We've noticed that through texting and phone banking, we've had a continuously high contact rate, higher than what we would previously consider and what some other organizations that are used to texting and phone banking on a regular basis. So people are picking up and people, I think, are anxious and are eager to talk to people. But people are also anxious to talk to people to make sure they have a plan and that their plan is accurate and it's going to work and having people help navigate them through their plans too. On that particular point there, Raymond, again, look, campaigns are very traditional.

They love being very traditional. Television ads, radio ads, billboards, sending people, sending teams out there as well. But there are a lot of people who are disengaged, who are disaffected, who don't show up to those events. And so from your perspective, have you seen that this has been also a different way to reach those folks who are disaffected? What have they been saying? How have they been responding? Yeah, I think it's a great question. And what Angela was talking about and what Lee alluded to is how do you run a modern 360 campaign where voters are diversifying the way that they're receiving information? You know, 10 years ago,

the thing that every campaign needed to do, and Republicans and Democrats were jostling for the best field operations. But what field means now is completely different than what it did when Obama ran in 2012. And when Obama ran in 2012 in Florida, it hit 800 field organizers and thousands and thousands of volunteers on the door. Now, even with the coronavirus, voters are getting their information from a ton of different ways. And I think a modern campaign is less about sort of, you know, what the tactics are as opposed to meeting the voters where they are. And I think what you've seen, hopefully on the campaign, what we've seen with a lot of independent organizations is making sure that the content, the 15 to 30, 45 second ads are really getting at the heart in the last two weeks to make the case to turn out

and vote. One of the things I've been so encouraged about has been the athletes and the artists who are shooting content, sending them to the states in order to make sure the states are best able to utilize that. Right now, I believe that in the next two weeks, specifically in the Black community, there is some danger with Black men under the age of 40 and Black women under the age of 30. And while we always talk about the Black community, we shouldn't always talk about the Black community as though they are a monolith. And you've heard that, I'm sure, from other political operatives and political strategists, there is still a big persuasion piece left for the campaign over the next two weeks. And that's up to the campaign for sure, but it's also up to progressive organizations

around the country that are interested in making sure that Donald Trump doesn't serve another four years. And that right there, Lee, I think is what's critically important. Raymond just said persuadables. And we hear people and there's been lots of conversation over the past week what the Trump campaign is trying to do. Leah Ruger has a great story out today, column today, where she says they're not really actually trying to get black votes. They actually want to keep black folks from voting. And so the thing there is to Democrats in the Biden-Harris campaign, to folks running for the United States Senate, to the DNC, to the DCCC, the Democratic Governors Association, what black men, pollsters and analysts and others have been saying is, look, that's us. We know how to talk to us. So you might want to listen to us and how to reach us.

Well, and that's exactly what we're doing, Roland. I mean, we've been working not just for the past three or four weeks or the past month or two, but we've embedded ourselves in our communities across the country. Angela runs a year round program in Milwaukee where you develop those kinds of relationships, you develop trust, and then you're able to talk to folks about the importance of the issues and talk about the issues that they care about. And we're doing that year round.

You just can't parachute folks in and expect people to listen to them. We're talking about the importance of voting to deal with the issues that confront our communities. Ray is working with us and working with a program where we understand the importance of Black athletes in the NBA and the WNBA, and they have made their voices heard. They're speaking out like never before. And they are willing to get out there and talk to our communities, talk to their communities in targeted cities and states across the country, and talk to those young black men who associate with them. And the players are

doing a hell of a job as far as connecting the dots, as far as talking about the importance of voting and dealing with the issues that impact on our community. And we've got to do more of that. But it just can't be two or three months out of the year. It's got to be continual. And then once this election is over, we've got to hold people accountable. OK, those who we voted into office, they've got to deal with the issues that impact our communities and make sure, make sure that those issues are being addressed. Angela, to the point about communicating and what Raymond said, how people are taking upon themselves, that's one of the things that I found to be very interesting, how a lot of folks are saying, you forget it I'm gonna do my own messaging and so I'm gonna sit here and target my own social media following and we're actually seeing that and to be honest I think we're seeing far more personal stories that affect people in a much different way as opposed to the very slick professional ads

put out by campaigns? Yeah, I'm not mad at it. And I think it's exactly what we need. I think a lot of times, especially now, we're worried about voter fatigue. You know, everyone's getting the mailers. Everyone's inundated with TV ads. If you try to play a game on your phone, an ad's going to come up. You see a YouTube video, an ad comes up. But there's something about being able to break through that noise by people that you know. And so there's a term that we use called relational organizing, and that's being able to not just knock on doors of, you know, cold and just whatever list is assigned to you, but having each person dig deep into their contacts, text 5, 10, 15 of their folks, and they constantly have these conversations. They can talk about the issues that they care about.

They can talk about these things over the dinner table. They can have these conversations in a more safe and trusting way and trusting manner than maybe if I were to go talk to them being a complete stranger. And so people really can be really powerful and utilize their own networks. But it's also really important to just talk the way that we want to talk. I think there's a lot of times people spend a lot of money on polls to try to tell our community how to best message folks to our community. When really we have the answers, we know what works for our folks. And, you know, a lot of times we have a bigger group. We have roughly

73 ambassadors and 10 full-time staff. I consider them a focus group in and of themselves. We don't have to pay, you know, fancy consultants, you know, being able to test with them. Does this ad resonate? Does this message work? What do you think about this? Talking to everyday people about the issues that they care about instead of running all these ads and tests and polls and getting a bunch of people that don't look like us in a room trying to figure out how to message to talk to us when really they could just be asking us and we actually have the tools and know how to make it deeply personal to our communities. Richard, there's a brother out there and that brother is saying, you know what? I'm not feeling this. I'm not really interested.

I don't really see how voting matters. Frankly, Joe Biden is the same as Donald Trump. What do you say to him? Yeah, that's the voter that Joe Biden is having some issues with. Right. I think to first start off, I think it's first acknowledging. Right. They're not crazy. And I think one of the things that I think the Biden campaign and organizations have done a good job of doing is acknowledging that reality. That while, you know, we may look at stock market, we may look at Latinos, for a lot for a lot of people, not just during the Obama presidency, but the last four years, they cast those aspersions on the entire system. And it's very hard to tell somebody that the system is both screwed up and you need to participate in the system. But that's the message. And I think that's the message that Black voters are going to need to hear. It's an acknowledgment that, hey, I know the system is messed up,

but I need you to participate in order to change the system. It is something that Black voters have had to deal with for the past century, sort of being citizens of this country but not full beneficiaries at the time, and still yet loving this country enough to participate in its systems. But Angela's absolutely right. You have to talk using messengers who are from these communities. And I think that it's why we're big proponents in Florida and across the country by working through local organizations. Absolutely, campaigns need to spend a lot of money on TV. That is true.

It's something that's a reality of our American political system, given the amount of money that it now takes to run for president. But there is something missing from the progressive world when we don't invest in organizations like Angela's to make sure that we're talking to voters. There is no substitute, no ad, no content, no TV, no radio that translates like a voter from your community, from your neighborhood, from your school talking to you.

And it's about having those authentic conversations 24 seven that black voters will finally, well, some of these black voters that were having a hard time getting out, we hope that will come around, but it's a huge problem. And I think when we talk about black voters, this is that persuasion universe. This is the type of work. These are the kind of messages that need to be talking and making the case. We know the system is messed up, but we need you to participate. We need you to vote. Lee, we saw in 2016 how union members in Ohio, Pennsylvania, in Wisconsin, in Michigan, were attracted to Donald Trump's

attacks on NAFTA, attracted to the economic message as well. Here we are four years later, and the reality is manufacturing has not come back. All those promises of bringing jobs back to the country, that has not happened as well. What have your Ask Me folks seen and heard from folks who say they voted for Trump in 2016? Are they realizing they got sold a bill of goods? And are they attracted to Joe Biden's economic message? I think that many now believe that they were sold a bill of goods. If you remember back then, folks were angry. They were frustrated. A lot of folks have been hurt. Their jobs have been sent overseas. And

they said, well, what the hell? Why don't we take a chance? I mean, nothing is working for us right now. Why don't we take a chance? And Donald Trump promised them everything. Here's the difference, Roland. There's a record that he has to run on now. And that record is not a good record for working people, for union members all across the country. You look at health care, his attacks on health care, retirement security, the fact that he's moved so much money to corporations,

yet he's ignored the plight of working families. You look at the attacks on collective bargaining all across this country. And so workers are coming back together saying, OK, well, we took a chance and it didn't work. And we've got to deal with politicians who believe in the kinds of things that we believe in. And that's exactly the message that we're communicating. I want to just say one more thing. Angela talked about her ambassadors in Milwaukee. I have been to Milwaukee and I've walked the streets with her and I've walked the streets with ambassadors. They don't call themselves organizers.

They call themselves ambassadors because they are from the community. They relate to the community. They not only talk to people, but the most important thing they can do is listen to what folks have to say and listen to the problems that exist. And people are getting, you know, getting that message out, but listening to the folks that we're trying to organize in those specific communities. And we just got to continue to do that. Trump has a terrible record as far as working people. And we're publicizing that. We're talking about it. He has a terrible record for our community, for the black community across the country. We've got to get that out, but we've got to listen to what people

have to say. Not talk at them, but listen. And then you develop a program and a plan around that. The danger. And we can only do this so many times, and then it's not going to work anymore. There's got to be results. If we win, when we win, there are going to have to be results where people feel it and see it, and the impact on their families is a positive one. It's a positive one that they know they made a difference. Their vote counted. They made a difference, and things have improved within their lives.

Angela, final comment from you on that particular point there where Lee says, listen, listen, listen. That to me, Ella Baker, one of the things that she told SNCC workers when they went south, she said, take your college clothes off, put your overalls on. She said, you might not think that these people are smart. They don't have college education. Many of them only have a second and third grade education.

She said, but trust me, they know what they're talking about and go to them and say, how can I help you versus me telling you what you actually need? Exactly. That's the whole foundation of our model is when we first started knocking on doors in the bitter cold of 2017, we only came with one question. What do you think it takes for our community, the black community, to thrive? And people were confused. People weren't used to, one, getting a door knock. Two, if they did get a door knock, they weren't used to someone asking them what they cared about.

Some of the folks that we heard from that said, what are you really here for? What do you really want? I'm not giving you money. I'm not signing a petition. And we have to say, no, we're here to listen. What are the issues in your community that we can all come together and work on? And I think that's super important and really, really valuable. And I think in a lot of times, being able to just have people have the opportunity to be heard is really important. And I think it's, as President Saunders says, like, this is not going to continue for very much longer. We can't continuously persuade people to come out and to listen if people aren't seeing tangible results. And so we're telling folks that if a lot of times people are showing up to vote because they want to see change, then we need

to see our votes through. And that means having a year-round organizing plan. That means having a quick break and then next year being able to talk to folks. In Wisconsin, we have an election in February and April, but we plan hopefully to be doors, or if not, at least continue to engage people, you know, April and beyond for the rest of the year to continue to talk to people, to plug people in. And it's really important for folks to see how they can see their vote through. We can't just expect to elect people and know that they know how to govern or that they know how to govern on our issues. So we need to be prepared in the days and weeks after the election to say, this is our plan. This is what we need you to work on. Here's a set of policies. How can we help you? Let's work together. And we

really need to, if we want to see the change that we want to see, we need to make sure we're seeing it through and doing that year round engagement and that year round organizing from every member in our community. You're there, Richard, in Florida. I'll be there tomorrow with the Florida Rights Coalition there as they have 24 events taking place all across the state on Saturday. We saw in the Andrew Gillum campaign extremely low turnout in Broward County and Miami-Dade County. Literally, they were below 60%. The Republican counties, especially in the panhandle, 70-plus. And so what are y'all doing to move that?

Because the reality is if Broward County and Miami-Dade County goes from 56-57 to 65 or 67. That actually bodes very well for Biden-Harris. Yeah, absolutely. And I may see you down with the good folks at FRRC and shout out to them and shout out to all the organizers who are doing the hard work of organizing the state, even during the pandemic. And I want to just lift them up, all the 40 and I think 40, 50 grassroots organizations in Florida working their tails off right now. As far as the turnout goes, Rowan, as you know, Florida is a state that in 2008 and 2012 delivered decisive victories for Barack Obama, but also a state that flipped in 2016 and went for Donald Trump. It is the most predictive swing state in the country for a reason, but also the most volatile. And no one, very few people become president of the United States without winning Florida.

And Donald Trump absolutely has no path without Florida. And to that end, I actually think it was a strategic misstep by Donald Trump to come out and attack vote-by-mail the way he did. If you are a Florida operative or an organization or organizer right now, you have to be thrilled by the vote-by-mail return ballots that are coming in, specifically from counties that tend to be more democratic. And so I will say that all the organizers and organizations who have funded vote-by-mail efforts, I think that it's almost like body shots in a boxing match. I think that that's going to be the thing that was the knockout punch that we delivered in round two. All that being said, I think it's still hard, hard work. A lot of organizers, we have about 1,500 canvassers that are safely going out on the doors,

try to get that extra percentage. Andrew Gillum, unfortunately, was unsuccessful by 30,000 votes, Bill Nelson by 10,000 votes. Florida strategy has to be right now doing everything they can to eke out, you know, precinct by precinct extra votes. And I think Florida will be victorious because the infrastructure in Florida is night and day from what it was in 2016. And you can tell by the vote by mail returns that it's working. Organizers on the organizers organizing the community, as Angela said, doing relational organizing. The vote by mail numbers in Florida are really, really encouraging, but we can't remain stagnant. We've got to keep moving forward, and I think the state will do that.

All right, then. We appreciate all the work that you do there, Raymond. Thank you very much, Angela. Lee Saunders, thank you very much for the work that Aspen does and being a partner here at Roller Martin Unfiltered. Thanks a lot. Thank you. All right, folks.

Louisiana, we're going to talk about that race in a second, but first I want to bring in my panel today. They're here every single Thursday. All right, folks. Louisiana. We're going to talk about that race in a second. But first, I want to bring in my panel today. They're here every single Thursday. All right. So. All right. We'll have them in just a moment. But I do want to do this here, folks. There are 11 days left, 11 days until Election Day. First of all, folks are already voting. So it's not like election hasn't started. But we do want to focus on that. And then we'll talk about, of course, again, you have deadlines coming up, your registration deadlines. Early voting begins, starts in New York State, October 24th, October 24th.

And in Maryland, you get to start early voting October 26th, Washington, D.C., October 27th. And then, of course, Oklahoma on October 29th. We also have, of course, voter registration deadlines. If you are from Utah, your deadline is October 23rd, tomorrow. If you're in Iowa and Massachusetts, your deadline is Saturday. If you're in Washington State, Colorado, and Montana, your deadline is going to be October 26th, which is Monday. In Connecticut, your deadline is October 27th. Now, we've talked about mail-in voting. Now, here's the deal. This is critically important for you to notice. In Alabama, Louisiana, and Vermont, your ballots will be counted if received by November 2nd, which is received by November 2nd. Alabama, listen, received by. Louisiana, received by. Postmark by November 2nd, Iowa, North Dakota,

Ohio, and Utah. Most states, they must be received by November 3rd. Let's go through those. Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, they must be received by noon. Maine, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, they must be received by 5 p.m. New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Wisconsin, Wyoming. Now, here are the states that are also critical when we talk about postmarked by Alaska, California, Washington, D.C., Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas, Washington and Virginia.

Now, listen, I need you to check your state. OK, the reason pull the graphic back up. I gave you the times. I remember Indiana is noon received by November 3rd and then New Hampshire 5 p.m. The postmark is important. You have to find out in your state what is the time postmarked by November 3rd. Is it midnight? You got to know those things. But if you're going to do mail in voting to ensure your ballot is counted, I ask all of you to please double check. Check your state rules. Go to vote.org. Go to vote.org. Go to I will vote dot com.

You can get all the information on there as well. Again, to understand what's going on when it comes to voting, folks. And so for so many of us, again, folks trying to understand what's happening, folks trying to understand in terms of what's going on here, these deadlines are important. Do not assume that you know somebody in one state. Don't listen to them and to say, oh, no, this is all you got to do. No, that state's rules could be very different from what's happening in your state. And so that is critically important for you to realize that. And so a lot of times, again, folks want to listen to somebody else and, oh, no, no, no,

you cannot do that. You must follow the rules according to what's happening in your particular state. Before I go to the panel, folks, here's a latest ad by the folks at Lincoln Project targeting Donald Trump. Weren't perfect, but they did their best to raise us to be good, to be honorable, to be men of family and faith. But above all, they taught us to own up to it when we did something wrong. No, I don't take responsibility at all. Let me go. I don't want to be your hero.

We may have thought we were doing the right thing in 2016. I don't want to be a big man. We may have thought we were doing the right thing in 2016. But it's clear this isn't the America we voted for. We made a mistake. So it's time to own up. To be the men our dads raised us to be, and the fathers our sons need us to be. Because they're watching us the way we watched our dads. It's our turn to set the example.

Vote for change. Vote for our sons. Vote for change. Vote for our sound. Vote for Joe. The Lincoln Project is responsible for the content of this advertising. I'm Dr. Greg Carr, Chair of the Department of Afro-American Studies at Howard University, Reesey Colbert, Black Women Views, and of course, Erica Savage-Wilson, host of the Savage Politics Podcast. Greg, I want to start with you. We've been talking a lot over the past two weeks specifically about men. And you look at that particular ad there. They also were talking to white men in that ad.

And one of the things when the 60 Minutes did a piece on the Lincoln Project, the people kept overlooking. They said in there they were targeting 4%. They broke the numbers down and said if they can shift 4% of Republican support away from Trump to Joe Biden, that could be the difference. A lot of people, it was just interesting again in that ad how they said,

dads, your sons are watching what you do. It's true. Roland, I'm glad you're reporting from North Carolina over the last couple of days because there are a lot of moving parts in this election. White men are going to vote for Trump, majority. If the reports, if Nate Silver's 538 and others can be trusted, perhaps as much as 20% of 18 to 44-year-old Black folks may vote for Trump, and that's predominantly men. I don't know if that ad will change many minds, but when you put the graphic up on the screen in terms of when votes will be counted, please understand that this is going to be about turnout. My election day, as you put on the screen, is October 26th.

That's when Maryland starts, and I'll be there Monday to vote in person. As you were in North Carolina, as you know, and we'll talk about that later with the Alabama and Pennsylvania cases, but the white nationalist party has pulled out all stops. The Supreme Court, I'm sorry, the Fourth Circuit intervened, intervened this week in a North Carolina decision by state law saying that, as you put up on the graphic, if you are postmarked by November the 3rd, they can count those votes up to nine days after November the 3rd they received them. And by a 12-3 vote, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed that, because the Republicans, the white nationalist party, went to the federal court to complain. And it got appealed to the Fourth Circuit. But guess what?

The three dissenters, three white nationalist judges in the white nationalist party, came up with a harebrained scheme that basically said, reading the opinion, the federal courts must guess at the meaning of the legislature and the judiciary in the state, even if the state and the judiciary disagrees. And then they told the losers to appeal immediately. Why? Because in four days, the handmaid may be on the Supreme Court, and they're going to try to invalidate thousands of ballots in North Carolina that are postmarked by November 3rd. So commercials, I don't know how many people they will move. This is about busting them out in person from the inside and breaking their whole political back. And after it, as Lee Merritt said, finally, we got to see some results.

They're going to have to add some seats to the Supreme Court because they're lining this thing up to steal it, brother. Absolutely. Before I go to you, Erica, Greg made the point. I was in North Carolina, dropped by NC, North Carolina A&T, also in my North Carolina Central. Ran to a student there and

love to get your thoughts on what she had to say. The issues that they're having trying to talk to young people who are listening to others who are saying, oh, our votes don't matter because all about the Victoria College. Listen to this conversation. listening to others who are saying, oh, oh yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, you know that's a- I'm comfortable though, I'm comfortable. That's a sweat suit, you know that. You know that, that ain't front, you know that.

You know it. So how has been the student reaction to voting thus far? I think a lot more students have been going out to vote, especially like me, like I'm going out and telling my friends, because it's important. It's not just about the presidential election, it's about what's gonna not just about the presidential election. It's about what's going to happen, you know, with schools and happening with bills and things like that. And it's important for them as students to know there are some students that say, you know,

their vote doesn't count. But me as a person, I want to make sure that my friends in my circle know that their vote does count. So how have you and your circle, how have y'all talked to those students? Because there are people, whether they they're students whether they are outside of the campus who say my vote means nothing so how have y'all been engaging them to walk them through to say no no it does matter and this is how well what i've been trying to do some of my friends we've been kind of trying to push away from the presidential election because i think a lot of students are saying oh well you know what happens with the electoral college that doesn't matter but i'm kind of pushing towards, like, who's our governor, our lieutenant governor, you know, our judges, our district court judges. We're kind of going where those people really make impact closer to you.

But do they also understand, though, that your vote does impact? Whoever wins the popular vote in North Carolina wins those electoral college votes. So it actually does matter. I think, you know, I know that, and I'll try to get other people to know that, but it's kind of like some people really don't think that, but it's— I've been telling them and talking to them, and me and my friends, we also watch the presidential debate and understand, like, what actually is being said and what actually is, you know, going through fact or going through what people are just saying. We always, on my phone,

and we make an arrangement just to sit down and go to the Greek Bowl or we sit down and go to the Starbucks and watching these debates and watching these people make these, you know, speeches and say what really what they're going to do. Okay. All right then. Well, we appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you.

First name, last name. Sheena Dean. Erica. Sheena there. Soph, sophomore there at North Carolina Central. The thing is, when we talk about disinformation, I don't think people understand how pervasive it is and being inundated. The other day I was watching, Mike Epps had a live stream with KRS-One, and KRS-One was saying hey it's important you vote he said but let's just be real clear you know uh you don't you're not voting for president

it's the electoral college I'm sitting I'm going okay but you do know that when you vote for president whoever wins the popular vote in your state that's the electoral college votes except in those two places where they award electoral college votes based upon congressional district, such as Nebraska. And I think it's New Hampshire. I'm going. And that's what drives me crazy. You know, folk who who put stuff out there. And then what it does is it gives those folks a good enough reason to say, oh, see, there you go. It's just a waste because, you know, these folks are picking the president. So it's just a waste for me to stand in line. I'm glad you brought that point forward and shout out to Sheena for what she's doing in her drive to really encourage people to understand the importance of casting a ballot.

Risi has been doing incredible work around this because that was the point that when you were speaking with Sheena and she brought forward the electoral college and that's the way that some of her friends that are college students are really saying that they're not going to participate in this process is because of electoral college misinformation that we have been micro-targeted since 2016 and that we have sitting intel reports, volumes that do evidence, in fact, that it never stopped. The interference, the disinformation, the misinformation has been ongoing since 2016. Add to that people who are not learned on the process, who fall into the category of and damn. So they're just repeating misinformation from years and years ago. They're not, they don't fully understand the process and they use the

platforms and they actually spew that. And then when we think about and take into account how majority of black community gets their information, it is by radio. So when we think about all of these different factors and we think about we have 11, 10 days left until November 3rd, election day, there is not really a real push that we saw with Angela when she was talking about what she's been doing for well over a year with the block program, which is informing, talking to those ambassadors so that they are actually going out and they're talking to people in communities in their own language and informing them that all politics is local and personal, but then also about the importance of casting the ballot from the presidential ballot down. When we have more of these people that are inserting their voices in this process. The last few days of the election, they're actually proven to be more of a hand to the disinformation campaign. So it's

important for programs like this, Roland Martin Unfiltered, people who are doing the work like Dr. Carr, who's in classrooms, educating and lifting minds daily, Recy, who's doing the work on Twitter with very informative threads and infographics that people do take to the streets safely and talk to those people. I have a 21-year-old son, and he and I were talking about when I was in Atlanta on last weekend, talking about the vote. And he said to me, mom, and this is the conversation that he's had with his friends. He said, mom, we don't have a choice. So that is the conversation that he is having with friends around him, Morehouse College,

talking about the importance of engaging in the vote, not just down ballot, but presidential election. So I think those two sentences where the electoral college, which that is something that does need to be redone, but just saying that, do you not understand that your vote does count? Because when you think about the electors that actually cast votes, it is by the popular vote.

Those two sentences alone could really kill a lot of what we're seeing, particularly with folks who have platforms and who are really just viewing disinformation and really talking about things that they really don't have a full understanding of. Aracely, this is the video I'm talking about. Go to my iPad, please. And if you're into voting and all of that, do your duty and urge everybody around you to go ahead and do that. No question.

Yeah. But some of us are revolutionaries and we already know that the voting is a joke, really. The money that's involved. And on top of that that electoral the electoral college where you're not actually you're not really voting for a president you're voting for a member of the electoral college who then votes for the president dang so even if they say man say that again say that again they say they say oh your vote your voice your vote counts it's your voice that's bullshit it's going down it's a chain of command huh it's a and we at the bottom of that chain

keep that in mind too okay so as i was saying it's the electoral college just that alone just that concept by itself we're not voting for a president. When you put your vote in, you are not voting for the president. You're voting for a member, a representative of your state. That's who you vote. That's who you put the vote. And they take the votes and say, oh, okay, Hillary won the popular vote. Hillary won the election. But we, the electoral college, are just going to give it to Trump

what vote matters then Charlamagne so Recy there was a particular the look on your face says a whole lot I want to start with this first of all Recy

it's the electoral college. I was thinking electoral. Go ahead. I'm sorry. Go ahead. Go ahead. Go ahead. Electoral? Black people. I need y'all to do better. KRS-One, he's supposed to be an international. Last I checked, he talking about the electoral college?

People, this is what's so frustrating to me is that this show is competing with people who have tens of millions of followers or millions of followers who are spewing garbage. And they're very convicted. And I think Harris one's video is exemplifies my frustration of the way that people are belligerently ignorant and very convicted in information that's just flat out not true. Yes, it is true that technically the way the process works is we have an electoral college, but did y'all see where Hillary electors

gave the election to Trump? That's not how that worked. Unfortunately, Donald Trump won the electoral college due to many factors such as voter suppression, voter deterrence, which is what we're still seeing. And God only knows what the hell Russia did with them voting machines, okay? Nobody wants to admit that. But the bottom line is, and going back to what the hell Russia did with them voting machines, okay? Nobody wants to admit that.

But the bottom line is, and going back to what Sheena said, it's so amazing to me that people in North Carolina think that, well, the Electoral College invalidates my vote. President Obama in 2008 won North Carolina by 14,000 votes out of 4.3 million votes cast. It was a 0.3 percent margin in 2008. In 2012, he lost it by 2 percent. In 2016, Hillary lost by 3.6 percent. So North Carolina is a somewhat of a swing state. In this election, North Carolina is also a swing state. But irrespective of how swingy your state is, the bottom line is that your vote goes to a number of things, as Sheena pointed out. Up and down ballot, there's a Senate race in North Carolina.

We need to reclaim the Senate in order to get anything done. And unfortunately, some of the incumbents in places like Michigan and Tina Smith is, I believe, in Wisconsin or Missouri or one of those states. I forget. They're running a little too close for comfort. And then Doug Jones. They're running very close in Minnesota, Michigan. Look, in North Carolina, five African-Americans are running statewide, including a black woman for the chief justice. In fact, if Democrats, Democrats actually, this is shocking. Democrats in North Carolina actually can sweep all of the state Supreme court seats. Why is that important? Because it was the North Carolina state Supreme court that ruled that districts in that state were racially gerrymandered. So even though the Supreme Court had their decisions on political gerrymandering,

the reason why people like Repairs of the Breach, Democracy in North Carolina, NAACP, Moral Mondays were so effective is because they, the courts played a role. Those are elected positions. And so, again, I'm sitting here and I'm like, you know, we're revolutionaries and I'm going, OK, you're not the only revolutionaries. But the problem is when it's like this stuff is constantly going out that causes the disaffected person to say, oh, I might as well go in and just chill. I don't need to do all that. But my question, Roland, is what have your results been? Because I haven't seen any results from the Twitterati, from these influencers and things like that. Every single result has to translate into legislative action. That's how this country works, legislative or executive action.

And that comes from the ballot box. That comes from pressure on people who are elected. But the most effective way of pressuring people is voting. If you don't vote, nobody gives a shit about your opinion. And in fact, I give a perfect example. My next guest certainly understands this very well. In Louisiana, 40,000, because of changes to the state law, 40,000 people had their voting rights restored prior to the election in 2018. That's how the Democratic governor was able to beat back a Republican effort to win reelection there in Louisiana. My next guest is the mayor of Shreveport, Louisiana. He, of course,

is seeking the U.S. Senate seat held by Bill Cassidy. He is Shreveport Mayor Adrian Perkins. Mayor, glad to have you on Roller Martin Filter. Happy to be here, Roland. Thanks for having me. So, this is one of those things, again, where we deal with it constantly. We're trying

to beat back disinformation that's being shared by our own people. Forget Russia, forget Iran, everything like that. And so what have you been experiencing from people there in Louisiana? Are you dealing with people who say, oh, man, OK, fine, brother, you running, but I don't really think it matters. There's no there's no way you can beat the Republicans in this state. So why why are you even doing it? I can tell you, I saw that earlier clip, and I'm pretty excited

because that type of information has not trickled down to at least the Louisianians that I've spoken to, and we have shattered records for early voting. On day one, our previous record was a little over 80,000 people. We had 150,000 go out on day one, and we've broken all the subsequent day records, too. People are motivated in Louisiana. We know that this year we have been neglected in the federal government's response to COVID-19. We are more aware than ever about how government works and how it impacts our lives, so we're pretty motivated down here. You might have a couple outliers, but we're going to get to them, too, before Election Day comes and make sure they get to the ballot box.

Your race is a little bit different because it's not a question of, you know, who wins majority on Election Day. Explain to folks what's happening there, how many people are in the primary and what your goal is. It's very similar to what Warnock is trying to do in Georgia, laying in those top two to keep the incumbent under 50 percent to force a runoff. Yeah, that's exactly it, Roland. I mean, Louisiana, everybody knows we're special down here. So during the presidential, that's actually our primary. So the top two vote getters in our jungle primary, which means independents, Democrats, Republicans, is 15 candidates running for U.S. Senate in Louisiana. The top two vote getters in our jungle primary, which means independents, Democrats, Republicans, is 15 candidates running for U.S. Senate in Louisiana. The top two vote getters will go into a runoff if nobody gets over 50 percent.

So right now, polling has me in the second seat and then has Senator Cassidy under 40 percent. So it's looking like it's going to be a runoff here in Louisiana. What that means for everybody out there is that after the presidential, Louisiana and Georgia, as you pointed out, all eyes will be on us to determine whether or not the Senate is red or blue or how red or how blue the Senate is. I have had lots of folks, lots of folks send me information. I've gotten a lot of text messages from James Carville pushing you.

And the the National Democrats. You know, look, they sit there and they say, OK, where's best to put our resources? Where's best to put our money where we actually have a shot at winning? They've been focused on Colorado, Arizona, focused on Maine and Iowa. They've been focused on North Carolina, Georgia, to a certain degree as well. They have completely ignored you in Louisiana, Mike Espy in Mississippi. And the reality is, you just said it, you're sitting, you're running number two right now. The income is under 50%. Mike Es ESPY is one point back of Cindy Hyde-Smith. Imagine what would have happened 90 days ago if the National Democrats actually said, hey, let's try to compete. Yes.

Yeah, and I'll tell you, Mike has been putting pressure on them. Our campaign has been putting pressure on them. And they've been giving us some attention lately. But you're right. You know, if you invest earlier on into some of these races where they're typically written off, our chances will go up even more. Right now, we're getting to where we are through determination, through grit and hard work. So, yeah, just imagine if the party came through for us like they have for others. But I tell you what, our community is a huge representation of the party.

So we have a say. We need to be pushing on party leadership to make sure they are investing in Louisiana. They are investing in Georgia. They are investing in Mississippi. And I promise you, we'll have a lot more representation in the Senate and in Congress in general. One of the things that when it comes to your race, when it comes to that point, you know, COVID has certainly had a significant impact on New Orleans, on the state as well. Are you seeing white voters there who may be independents or conservatives pissed off with Donald Trump and Republicans and pissed off with Cassidy or Kennedy and saying, you know what, I'm going to get a black guy. Look. Absolutely. And we've been hearing that from day one. The frustrations that I have as mayor and watching my community go through what it's gone through this year and the loss of life, the loss of our livelihoods with jobs being taken

out of our community is one that hundreds of thousands of Louisianans have. Louisiana had over 400,000 citizens apply for unemployment benefits, and Senator Cassidy has voted against unemployment benefits every time since the CARES Act has passed. Those hardworking families are paying attention, and they will go to that ballot box, and they'll make sure that they cast their ballot for somebody aside from Cassidy. Questions here from my panel. First off, let me go to Erica Savage-Wilson. Hi, Mayor Perkins. Great to be with you today. My question for you is, when I was growing up, my father was in the Marine Corps. We were stationed about an hour and a half away from Louisiana. One of the things that I know that

greatly impacts the Gulf Coast, the boot, are floods, are, you know, the ever-impending danger of hurricanes. And I know Louisiana definitely has had more than its fair share for this hurricane season. What are some of the solutions that you have around, particularly under the office, under COVID, under better securing Louisianians against having to prepare sometimes for hurricanes, tropical storms, to better equip the folks that you would be representing in Senate around climate change, something that would be effective so that Louisiana can be a lot more safe and a lot more protective during a very active hurricane season? Yeah, I can tell you what we've already done. As many of you might know, this year, the fourth most powerful storm to hit the United

States hit Lake Charles and Hurricane Laura. By the time it made it up to Shreveport, four hours later, it was still a Category 1. That was our first hurricane in recorded history. But a lot of people in Lake Charles obviously were hit much harder than Shreveport was. As there were evacuees that left the Lake Charles area in southwest Louisiana and they came up to Shreveport, and they actually went to New Orleans. We couldn't keep evacuees in the traditional centers that we would keep them in because of COVID-19. So we actually had to work with FEMA to get them hotel vouchers so that families could be together but be separated in hotels so that they could keep safe from the public health crisis that we're going through. So we've already had to deal with multiple crises stacked on top of each other. And I applaud local leadership. I applaud state leadership for the response. But that's another

area where federal leadership has faltered on us. You know, the people in Lake Charles are still rebuilding. It's going to take months, if not years, for them to get back to where they were. And yet, you know, I got word the other day that the people that are living in hotels in New Orleans are being sent back to Lake Charles where there isn't a sufficient amount of food, there isn't a sufficient amount of utilities being provided, there isn't a sufficient amount of, you know, FEMA trailers for those families to go back to. So again, in time of crisis, every single lever of government has to be operating, local, state, and federal. And our federal government and federal leadership has neglected

this. Reesey. Hey, Mayor Perkins. It's good to see you. If I'm not mistaken, you haven't been able to debate Bill Kastki. Is that correct? Or could you correct me on that? No, you're absolutely correct. And we have answered every forum debate request that have been put to our campaign. We're always excited to get out there and, you know, take our case to the people of Louisiana. But Senator Cassidy has failed to show up to any of them, including one that was five miles away from his house and he was sitting in his living room watching. So, yeah, I mean, I think he's embarrassed to defend his record. I would be if I had such a record when it came to health care or such a record when it came to a response to a public health crisis, and I have a medical degree. And I think that's exactly what it is. So, yeah, he's refusing to debate it. So everybody, if you're listening, get on Twitter,

call him out, try to get him to debate. You know, he's a U.S. So everybody, if you're listening, get on Twitter, call him out, try to get him to debate. You know, he's a U.S. senator. His policies not only affect us in Louisiana, they affect you as well. If he would have passed that Graham-Cassidy bill, he would have stripped away health care from over 20 million Americans. That could have been somebody in your family. So let's get him to debate. Let's get him to try to defend what he's tried to do in the past. Greg Carr.

Thank you, Brother Rowland. and thank you, Brother Mayer. If I have my facts right, I guess Henry Flipper and Ben Davis and all them are very proud. You were the first black cadet to serve as president of the student body at West Point? Yeah, first black graduate to be class president at West Point, yes. All right, brother. I tell you what, man.

So let me ask you very quickly. I know you've campaigned and won on smart cities and improving technology. It seems like people continue to vote against their class interests, and it may be about turnout. In terms of early voting, do you have a sense of how many people are voting early now who would have voted anyway? And what's your strategy for expanding the voter base and get some folks who wouldn't be voting otherwise to get in there and really go to the ballot box? Yeah, we have no indication on that right now. But I can tell you every day we are breaking records here by the people that are showing out. And it's not slowing down. It's not like it was a trendy thing where everybody wanted to get out on day one and day two.

But if they couldn't make it, they're kind of losing their will. People are still motivated to this day. You got people, I got a text message today, people in New Orleans are still waiting in line for an hour plus, you know, just to cast their ballots. So people remain motivated. And that is critical. The state does give information on how many Democrats have voted, how many Republicans have voted, and how many African Americans or white citizens have voted. And we have seen African Americans come out and drove. We've seen Democrats come out and drove, almost

two to one. So this is going to be an election like no other. And Louisiana is going to surprise a whole lot of people. You just watch. All right, then. Oh, look, we certainly appreciate it. Where can people get more information? If they want to support your campaign, where do they go? Tell them to visit Perkins for L.A. dot com. Visit us on Twitter at Perkins for L.A.

Perkins for L.A. as well. And we're on Facebook at Adrian Perkins. Thank you all for the support. We need to keep pushing so we can beat Senator Cassidy. Well, it is it is rare for us to see an Omega trying to do something this significant, but we'll go ahead. I knew an Alpha had to slide it in. No, no, no. We'll go ahead and give y'all a couple things, but it's all good. All right, Adrian Perkins, I appreciate it.

Thanks a lot. All right. Thank you, brother. All right. Thank you so very much. All right, folks. We'll go back to our panel. Greg, I wanted to get you to weigh in on that. That Kara is one video.

And the thing is, is the thing for me is, again, I talked to that student in North Carolina Central. And she she literally said that very thing, that there are students who are saying, man, this thing really don't affect us. I don't even really bother with this because no sense in me voting. They are going to pick who they want anyway. Well, brother, you know, I'm not really mad at Brother Lawrence Parker.

I mean, as the initials in his stage name indicate, knowledge reigns supreme over nearly everyone. So, you know, knowledge doesn't stop with a little bit of knowledge. A little bit is a dangerous thing. And again, you know, our brother Nick Cannon, my very good friend who graduated from Howard,

Nick and I would talk a long time about the utility of voting. You know what Nick did? Nick said, I need to educate myself on this. So we started with Dick Gregory's book when he ran for president, Count Me In. And that led to reading some other books. And then he invited Angela Rye into one of his early cannons classes, and they talked about voting. You know, KRS-One isn't that energy. First of all, you're not a revolutionary. I mean, because if you're revolutionary, you wouldn't be on TV talking about you're a revolutionary. That's one thing.

But shout out to all the YouTube and Twitter warriors who are revolutionary. But the energy, I absolutely am with his energy. I understand that. Because, you know, we're on the verge of a transformation. This country is going to be transformed. If Trump is put back in the White House, it's going to be transformed by those

who are going to tear it up on all sides. And if he's not in there, as Lee Merritt said, we're going to demand and make some demands on power. Lee Saunders. I'm sorry, I said Lee Saunders. I'm sorry, brother. As Lee Saunders said, we have to get these demands met. And as Linda Sarsour said on this show,

we have to put our best opponents in the White House. As Reese said, we've got to vote to get these demands met. And as Linda Sarsour said on this show, we have to put our best opponents in the White House. As Rishi said, we've got to vote to get in there and then we bust it out. We have to do that. So I'm not really mad at KRS as much as I am bemused because unlike Nick Cannon, for example, or others who have a platform, who have that visibility Rcy is talking about with these millions of folks, but who continue to educate themselves and are committed to trying to figure out the best tactic, KRS and others, you know, Brother Jackson, Curtis Jackson, 50 Cent, you know, and all these, you know, seem to be satisfied with just making

kind of off-the-cuff pronouncements at the cusp of a transformational tactical moment. It's okay maybe if you talk like that November the 4th or 5th, but when you're talking loud like that and then turn around and may have some impact on somebody who won't vote, to quote KRS one more time, self-destruction. You're headed for self-destruction. See, this is the issue that I have with that commentary and the issue that I have.

Because as somebody who deals with words, decade of syndicated columnist, somebody who's been writing stories, been on TV and radio, it matters, because you never know who's listening. And I absolutely understand the frustration that exists among a lot of people, black men, black women, white folks. Remember, 91 million didn't vote in 2016. That ain't all black people.

And so I totally get it. I totally get all of that. And I totally get the people who say, y'all keep saying voting was going to solve it. I think that's also part of the problem, Recy. The thing that I say is that voting is not the solution. Voting is a part of the solution. You cannot, so when I remember seeing the polling data

of this 37%, Terrence Whitberry's research, 37% of these young people who were out there marching and protesting did not believe that voting was going to somehow make a difference. And I'm sitting there going, okay, but if you're protesting and you're marching and you're saying that you want laws changed,

who do you think changes the laws? I probably would not have a conversation with somebody else who can't cook. I'm probably going to have a dialogue with somebody who can cook to solve my problem of I'm hungry. And so I just keep trying to get people to understand you can't protest for change. And then say, y'all let y'all let me know people who are the ones who either change it or who won't, which means that if I don't vote, all I'm doing is just going out for a walk, yelling and screaming because I'm doing nothing about the very people who I need to listen to why I'm protesting. They go together. Yeah, they do.

And, you know, I did a thread, I believe it was this week, about, I think a lot of people, for one, overestimate the amount of power that Democrats have, and they especially overestimate the amount of power that Black people have. One of the talking points out of Ice Cube's media tour is that, well, we've elected all these Black people and we don't have anything to show for it. There are 500,000 elected officials around the country. 9,000 of those

are Black. That's 2%. That is not this groundswell, this massive amount of Black people that are in power that are letting us down. And those people are not evenly distributed. This current Congress is the largest representation of Black people in the entire Congress. That's 11 percent of the Congress.

And only in the Senate, which has a lot of power, as we can see in terms of this judicial hearing, they make up three people, and one of them is a Republican. And so I think, number one, people need to really understand that Black people don't have as much power in this country. And so you're fighting with the wrong people. You're fighting against the CBC. You're fighting against the people that are actually on your side. When I look at the CBC agenda and I look at Diddy's new, quote-unquote, our Black Party agenda, I don't see anywhere where there is something that's opposed to each other. And I don't see anywhere where there is something that's opposed to each other. And I don't see anywhere where Diddy's, quote unquote, our black party is proposing something other than what the CBC is already doing. And so I have people where I ask them, are you following the CBC? No. OK, well, how the hell do you expect to know what they're doing? But you're very critical of them.

I see these people that are coming out here, our black party, who have made no endorsements whatsoever. When you have Adrian Perkins in Louisiana, you have Mike Espy in Mississippi, you have Jamie Harrison in South Carolina, you have Reverend Warnock in Georgia. These are winnable races of Markeeta Bradshaw in Tennessee. These are winnable races and you're on the sidelines. And so get off the sidelines. You can be a revolutionary. A lot of them are actually political prisoners. Those are the true revolutionaries or they survived these kind of political persecutions over decades. But you have to get off the sidelines. You have to vote on every single one. That's not a cliche. That's just literally the structure of our society. And I appreciate what Dr. Carr reminds us is you got two choices. You get in there and you vote and you try to keep this fragile democracy that we have together, or you got to be

prepared to really be a revolutionary. And I'm afraid if people don't wake up and it seems that people are more than like most of them, aside from the loud people on social media, I'm afraid what the next four years looks like with Donald Trump. And the last thing I would say is I saw a commenter on Fox News, a black woman, and she was responding to Charlamagne. And she said that black people will reset regardless of who is the president and are going to put pressure on them. There is no reset with the Donald Trump administration. Be very clear about that. There's no reset. We don't get to reset one in 920 Black people dead from COVID.

We don't get to reset 41% of Black businesses lost. We don't get to reset 13% unemployment under Donald Trump's watch, whose strategy for tackling COVID is herd immunity, which is going to wipe out millions of people. There's no reset from that, Black people. The only reset is on November 3rd and voting his ass out.

That's the only reset we get. We get one chance. After that, we're screwed. And I'm not exaggerating. I'm not trying to be funny. That is literally our only option. I mean, Erica, what people have to understand, and let me to the point Reese just made,

and I need people to understand, I totally get if somebody says, I don't see nothing changing. Here's the problem I have with that. I understand the sentiment. I understand the anger. But the reality is this here. If your ass is black and you get to walk into a restaurant, actually something did change. If you're black and you actually can do a job that goes beyond being a janitor or working at the post office or being a teacher,

some things have changed. If you begin to, again, really begin to say, okay, what things have actually changed? I think part of the issue here is that, and why the generational divide is there, because I think the reason the 50 plus audience views this thing differently because they experienced stuff that frankly we didn't. I'll say the 55 plus. They actually saw stuff and experienced stuff that we didn't. So if you're 55 or younger, you have no recollection, no understanding of Jim Crow, of that level of hatred, that level of demonization, none of that. But the thing that I still am stuck on, Erica, is, OK, if you don't believe that voting is part of the solution, by all means, show me what way can actually change systems. Show me what beyond that. See, that's why when the fools like Jason Whitlock

run around talking about, you know, we got to change our community. Yes, we do. And even all those black elected officials, we've seen advancements. But today, the Republicans in the Senate Judiciary Committee advance Amy Coney Barrett to the floor over their own rules.

Over their own rules. And so, people, even when we have black elected officials, if you still haven't changed the judicial system, and then you still ain't changed the money system it's only so much they can do and that to me erica is what i think people have to understand we are chipping away at a system that was never designed for any of us not only to vote not only to be in the system the system wasn't even designed for the four of us to only to vote, not only to be in the system, the system wasn't even

designed for the four of us to be able to have this conversation right here, Erica. No, not at all. And I'm just thinking about sitting here that, you know, my parents were a part of segregation. So I am literally one generation removed

from segregation so that the belief that we are not impacted by actions around voting is a false and it is a silly thought as well. You know, we had this kind of conversation a few weeks ago, and I remember saying three weeks ago that this vote was a life or death vote. I think this was a fucking life or death vote, to quote myself, is exactly what I said three weeks ago on this program. And that has not changed. To think about in 2016, we had people who have large platforms, entertainers, artists, intellectuals, that said, just pay attention to what's happening down valley. And now here we are four years later.

We have a pandemic that is out of control. We have the son of a Klansman who was installed by Russian interference, prancing around saying that him having COVID is really a blessing from God. While 220,000 people lie dead, he's skipping and dancing over their graves. We have people that are in economic crisis. We just had Mayor Perkins talk about people who now don't have hotel vouchers and have to go back to a parish where we don't know if they have utilities. We don't know what the food situation is, that they're in a food apartheid situation. And we still have our vote actively being suppressed by Republicans who really are trying to shut out folks through a pandemic, through

economic crisis, through housing crisis. So to say that it is not the duty and the responsibility of every American, no matter what they feel about politics, to actually participate in this election is actually an endorsement for Donald John Trump Jr., who, with a billion dollars in debt, who continues to be the emoluments president, who continues to spout his COVID, and we don't know if he still has COVID, we don't know if he's taking another test, who continues to go to state after state, city after city, throwing masks, spewing violence, that continues to stoke the proud voice that this president is the person that they want to see remain in power for four years, then what they're saying is that they're really wanting to hand over their cell phone and all of the freedoms that they experience in the

virtual world, because we see that with folks who are dictators in places like China and abroad and other places. So I think that for people not to believe the younger generation, generation 18 to 44, whomever is being swayed by people who are going on Instagram Live and talking about things that they really don't have any full knowledge of is really silly. And it really is an endorsement for a person that wants nothing more than to make sure that he locks down this country for him and for the regime that's been installed

as well. One of the things, again, when you start breaking these things down, Greg, I see somebody and I've heard this before, well, Biden was there 47 years and what did he do? And I'm sitting there going, you do realize that Joe Biden was one of two United States senators from the state of Delaware in a body where there are 100 people.

Being a United States senator is completely different than being president of the United States. There is no comparison to that. And when somebody says, well, Joe Biden been there 47 years, go talk to your mama or your aunt or your niece or your aunt, or your niece, or your female cousins, and ask them about the Violence Against Women Act. See, if we're going to have a discussion about the crime bill, which we can have, you're also going to go have to ask a lot of black caucus members why they also voted for it.

Come on now. But if you're going to talk about Joe Biden, he ain't done nothing. I want you to go ask the black women who got their asses kicked by their husbands and boyfriends about the Violence Against Women Act.

Because the same person is responsible for that. Sure. I mean, Roland, and very clear, you know, I am not a defender of Joe Biden. Right. And neither are you. I mean,

I'm just presenting facts. Right. We're Southerners. I was in that first generation, as Erica said, I'm that first generation that was bust. So I don't first generation, as Erica said. I'm that first generation that was bused. So I don't remember the Jim Crow signs, but I remember all the Jim Crow behavior. I remember being told, hey, use the bathroom before you go to the store. We go into the store. You can't be in the bathroom here. But my parents were raised in Alabama and Tennessee as a little boy.

I remember getting on the bus and having to ride better part of an hour to get to the school and then come back. And people, and black girls especially, being written up because they wouldn't take their coats off because they want us to put our coats in the little cubby room. We can't see that with our eyes, and we don't trust none of y'all. So some of these people don't know. But yes, we grew up in that society, that kind of ex-iteration away from American apartheid. But let's be very clear. You know, for me, there's one example in this that kind of sticks out. Anita Fahil.

Anita Fahil has endorsed Joe Biden. That is not because she likes Joe Biden. It's not because Joe Biden didn't crucify her when he put that fool Clarence Thomas on the Supreme Court when he was in charge of the Judiciary Committee. It's not because he can defend that. Joe Biden is indefensible. Joe Biden is a prop. You understand? In other words, we are playing a longer

game. And so for folks who say it doesn't matter, let's be very clear. Let's be very clear. As you said, they put four more judges on the bench today. And you're going to talk about that in a minute, including this 33-year-old, all the members of the Federalist Society. One of

them, the 33-year-old clerk for Clarence Thomas. And not only that, in those Alabama and Pennsylvania cases that the Supreme Court heard in the last couple of weeks, this is the strategy of the Supreme Court. Their attitude is when states try to suppress voter participation, the Supreme Court is going to stand down. When courts try to intervene to expand voter participation, the Supreme Court is going to intervene. This is because the white nationalists in this country, and I shout out to you white nationalists, because we're about to have it out.

As Recy said, one way or the other, you are you are you are now dropped all pretenses. You know, the only way you can keep this criminal enterprise going that you have in your delusional minds, you billionaires and all you white people think you're going to be a billionaire, deluded thinking. You know, the only way you can do it now is to steal it. If and when, and we're going to claim when, Biden and Harris are elected, they have a party at night the next day, now, KRS, all of us, revolutionaries, let's be out now. As Reese said, if your name ain't Jalil Muta-Queen and you didn't spend 49 years in prison, if you remember the Black Party, Panther Party, who just got out a couple of weeks ago, you should probably keep that revolutionary kind of talk a little light.

But you were able and you are able to perform in filled-up arenas and sell all over as a result of the sacrifice of your parents. But on the day after the election, we go in there and say, now you've got to expand the Supreme Court. You know why? Because if you can simply restore what happened with Shelby County versus Holder voting rights, what happened with Citizens United, dark money and big money, the roles can expand in this country just based on people who are in here right now. About 50 million people. And what the white nationalist party understands is that if they don't get it this time, it could potentially be over.

And this society will be fundamentally transformed. And everything the revolutionaries and so-called revolutionaries claim they want gets that much closer. But guess what? None of that happens in the short term unless we do something in the next two weeks. And if we don't, then, yeah, we're going to see what y'all made of. We're going to find out who's going to be strapped in the streets. Because believe me, that's where it's going next. Allow me to, but I do think this has to happen.

And let me be perfectly clear. I have been saying this for years, Reesey. Years. Like, years. And I love the scene from the movie, one of my favorite scenes from the movie is from the movie Hootland. When you don't know, you don't know.

And if folk don't know what you've done, they won't know. So last week when the CBC was all up in arms over Ice Cube and this whole deal, they were like, but we've done this, this, this. And I said, don't nobody know.

Which means that you have to articulate to them. And I said, and your answer can't be, but we did this, this, this. I said, no. It's called compare and contrast. So,

they did. This is what they sent me. Pull it up. Okay. We're going to start. This is the Jobs and Justice Act of 2020 versus Trump's platinum plan. We're going to go Trump first. Invest almost $20 billion towards broadband and Internet access to create job opportunities, improve classroom connectivity and access to telehealth services.

That's what Trump says he wants. He wants to do. This is what the CBC said they did. The bill invests $100 billion to create over 1.9 million jobs by addressing critical physical and digital resources needs in schools. That's literally in their plan. Donald Trump says he's going to look at examining

barriers to employment, including fees, occupational licensing, arrest record inaccuracy, and expungement. The CBC says they created a three-year program occupational licensing, arrest record inaccuracy, and expungement. The CBC says they created a three-year program in the Department of Labor to test the impact of federal job guarantees in up to 15 diverse communities and regions experiencing high unemployment. Donald Trump says reach greater levels of historic employment and wage growth for the black community.

Kind of generic. The CBC plan says, encourage businesses contracted to rebuild infrastructure to recruit, actively hire, and provide on-the-job training to African-American men ages 18 to 39. Let me say it again, black men. In the very bill, the House passed.

It said to hire, actively hire and provide on-the-job training of African-American men ages 18 to 39. Under small businesses, this is what Donald Trump says. He will grow minority-owned businesses with additional tax cuts to stimulate hiring and investment. CBC allow entrepreneurs to contribute up to ten thousand dollars per year into a tax free account for business related expenses. Contributions to the account could accumulate up to one hundred and fifty thousand dollars and withdrawn tax free. All you brothers with businesses, that's you. Under education, Donald Trump said, federal, state, and local community partnership

to close failing schools to replace with full school choice and education opportunity. CBC, invest $2.5 billion in new federal grants to encourage states and districts to ban unfair and discriminatory school discipline practices and improve school climates, particularly related to girls of color. That's $2.5 billion. Donald Trump has no dollar figure on his. Last one.

Under police reform, Donald Trump says, restore safety to America's great cities by working with police departments, community leaders, and mental health professionals to install the most responsive professional and accountable models of policing, including diversity training and accreditation standards. This is the same guy who got rid of diversity training on the federal level, but he has an end plan. Last point here. The CBC says the Justice and Policing Act calls for real reform to ban chokeholds and no-knock warrants, limit the transfer of military-grade equipment to state and local enforcement, require body cameras, So, if you are a black man or a black person, and you are saying, Donald Trump's platinum plan,

this is what he's going to do for us. I just read for you what the CBC has already done. It has been passed in their bill, passed in the House, and Mitch McConnell won't bring it up on the Senate. This, Recy, is what the CBC should have been doing a year ago. And when it passed, compare and contrast and show. So when an ice cube or when a KRS-One

or when a 50 Cent or when a brother down the street or when a sister in Texas or when somebody else says y'all ain't doing nothing, you've got to tell people what you're doing. And what I'm saying, I recall saying this to CBC members 20 years ago.

20 years ago. And I've been saying the same thing for 20 years. If don't nobody know what the CBC Foundation does and what the CBC Institute does and what the CBC PAC does, then they're not going to know. That's on you. Yeah, I mean, I'm glad they got the memo, because I remember even, I think it was last week where you went through this kind of, like, Word document-looking thing that they provided.

This is exactly what I've also been saying about graphics. I still don't have them from the Biden campaign. I've also been saying about graphics. I still don't have them from the Biden campaign. I know people are working on them. Some people have like on their own made graphics, but messaging is so important. You know, like what did I say? If a tree falls in the woods and nobody makes, if it doesn't make a noise, anybody hear it or whatever situation may be like, you have to, you have to take credit. You have to brag about what you're doing. That's why I said earlier, the Our Black Party agenda is almost exactly what the CBC is doing. The CBC is not monolithic within itself. There are people who are more progressive and more conservative. So you can

even find within the CBC people who might agree with, for instance, defund the police as a slogan as it's being used. So there's a messaging problem that the Democrats have. I mean, this is a great start. You know, people aren't following the CBC, but at least people like us who do follow them, this is something that's very easy to share. I shared this graphic and they were right on it. Somebody in my, I've asked somebody in my comments, well, do you follow the CBC? And the CBC responded and I shared it or whatever. But this is what we have to do, unfortunately, because if it's not in a graphic, if it's not in a meme,

you're going to lose about 30% of the population that's engaged on social media because they don't read. I know that sounds mean, but they don't read, okay? But graphics or things like that help. And so this is what they have to do. And also with the Biden campaign tonight is a debate night. I'm hoping that he, you know, gets a better economic message. You know, it was amazing to me when 50 Cent said, well, you know, oh, they're going to tax the hell out of me, vote for Trump. And the only response that I saw from the Biden campaign was, well, nobody under $400,000 is going

to see a tax increase. Well, when I actually looked up the Moody's analysis for it, it shows that not only that, the average household is going to get a $750 tax cut under Biden's plan. I haven't seen them articulate that. And that the average income after taxes is going to grow by $4,600. Also, they're going to have 7.8 million jobs

and achieve full employment by 2022, unlike Trump, who will not achieve full employment under his plan, as analyzed by Moody and the next administration. And so here is the thing. You have winning policies. In the case of the CBC, you have legislation that completely aligns with what people say that they want. But you have to tell people about it. People are not curious. People are not taking the initiative. And so the onus has to be on you to articulate what you're doing so that people or even reach out to people who are these Johnny-come-latelys that are very annoying and very arrogant, and they're trying to plant a flag like Christopher Columbus, and say, hey, this is what we're already doing.

Hop on board with us. And what you also do, Greg, you take this and you don't put it in one graphic. You then break it up where you have one slide where you say Trump's plan, what he say he gonna do, what we've done. What he say he's going to do, what we've done. What he say he's going to do? What we've done. What he says,

what he will do for black America? What we've done. That's how you do it. Look, there's a reason why Republicans kick Democrats' asses in messaging. Because they know how to do it. Look, hey man, every time I debated

one of them fools on CNN or any other network, I was never worried about losing. Never. Because I had my stuff ready. I know how to message. And my deal is, you can't keep saying, I don't know why people don't give us no credit. Because you've never told them explicitly what you've done. Greg, final comment. I got to go to break.

Well, very quickly, Roland, and I'll come back, talk about these judges again, because we're looking at something that's taking place in a much larger field. Reese, you really hit it. You know, younger people are consumed by the digital age. And so if you don't do what you're saying, then it's going to get lost. And I'm talking about people in college. I mean, I'm a teacher. I see it every day. It's almost like you've got to translate those things that way.

And as far as 50 is concerned, he understands that. Yeah, maybe he'll pay some more taxes, but everybody who watches Power is going to get a tax break if they even earn enough to pay taxes. But I understand Curtis. I mean, he never took a straight payout of nowhere. Life's pay taxes. You know, but I understand Curtis. I mean, he never took a straight pay up nowhere. Life's full of twists and turns, bumps and bruises. He lives, he learns. And he's going to find out that in very short order, this country, this isn't about Democrats and Republicans.

See, this is one of the, that's why I keep referring to the GOP as the white nationalist party. The Democratic Party is still playing as if this is a country. Right. This is, you see, and this is the problem with the CBC and everybody else. They think there's some rules out here.

Rules? There are no rules. As Eddie Murphy said in The Nutty Professor, you think I'll be listening to you. I don't be listening to you. So when they are talking to Lindsey Graham, These people are not listening to you. So the CBC is not going to win any messaging game by thinking they can just put information out there. People will say, hmm, that's debated in the barbershop. I think we can now vote. No, this is a propaganda war being fought

with some people who don't have any rules. And if you want to lose, keep thinking it's a debate. Folks, absolutely, got to go to break. When we come back, we'll talk about those federal judges right here. And also, we'll talk about the cop who murdered George Floyd. A judge drops third-degree murder charges.

We'll explain next to Roland Martin Unfiltered. The guy in the White House is a mortal, not a god. The members of the Congress, they are mortals, not gods. Bowing down is not enough. We will stand up again. We will march again. We will preach again.

We will organize again. We are black. We are white. We are Latino. We are Native American. We are Democrat. We are Republican. We are independent. We are people of faith. We are people, we are white, we are Latino, we are Native American, we are Democrat, we are Republican, we are independent, we are people of faith, we are people not of faith,

we are natives and immigrants, we are business leaders and workers and unemployed, we are doctors and the uninsured, we are gay, we are straight, we are students, we are parents, we are retirees. We are America! And we're here and we ain't going nowhere. Hey, it's Alfre Woodard. Listen, I know there's a lot that must change in our communities and sometimes it's hard to imagine things getting better. And no, voting won't solve everything, but it is a step forward. So remember,

in Texas, you can vote early in person between October 13th and October 30th. Plus, if you need a free ride to vote, use the code VOTETOLIVETX in your Lyft app. Visit VOTETOLIVE.org for information paid for by Collective Future. All right, folks, we want to thank Seek.com, a black-owned company founded by Mary Spio, who's been a partner here in Worldwide Modern Filter. They have these great products here. These virtual reality headsets, you can just simply pop your cell phone right into here,

watch their virtual reality content on Seek.com or other 360-degree video. You can also, of course, get these 360-degree 4D headphones, Bluetooth, great bass, unbelievable bass sound that travels all across your head, surround sound, if you will. You can go to Seek.com, C-E-E-K.com. Use the promo code RMVIP2020, RMVIP2020, to get these particular items here. And so, again, we want to thank Seek.com and Mary Spiel for being partners here at Roland Martin Unfiltered. Folks, earlier I talked about what took place today in the Senate where the Republicans completely just blew off their own rules. The way the rules are is that you have to have at least two Democrats present in order for you to advance something out of

committee. Well, the Democrats today chose to boycott the hearing because last week, Lindsey Graham pretty much said, hell with y'all. Well, guess what today? They ignored their own rule. They ignored the rule last week. They ignored the rule this week and went ahead and moved Amy Coney Barrett's nomination to the Supreme Court to the Senate floor. They also moved five other federal judges to the floor, including

one white woman who's 33 years old. She's been out of law school eight years. They ain't never tried a case and they're going to put her on the federal bench. Here is simply my position, Erica. Democrats should be taking notes. And Democrats should say, first of all, let's be real clear.

Democrats win the Senate, Senator Dianne Feinstein, your ass will not be chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Sheldon, you're going to be the new chair. Two, ain't no damn rules. Ain't no rules. I'm rolling

everybody through, and then when they talk, you're done. Thank you very much. We're moving for the vote. I ain't even, I'm giving, we ain't even talking about it. And then if anybody say anything, I'm like, press play from last year. They got to learn to use power, Erica.

And I'm telling you, use all the maneuvers you can to stop it. Look, you ain't stopping Coney Barrett from getting on the Supreme Court. What you do do is use the power. So go ahead and comment on that, and then I'm going to ask y'all about I get why he did it, but

this BS bipartisan commission by Erica Ghosn. Go ahead. Yeah, and I think one of the first things Democrats have to learn is that when you're talking about transitional committees, cannot have people who have stood for those very same principles for decades on those particular committees.

And listen, when the Democrats do take over the Senate to also remember that Madam Vice President Kamala Harris will be president of the Senate. And the eight years that the Obama that Obama was in office, thatVice President Joe Biden did not cast any tie-breaking votes. Well, we know that that is not what Mike Pence has done. He has cast several, up to well over 13 votes in the Senate. So that's another thing, that they have to be very much so willing to cast those votes, tie-breaking votes, necessary in the Senate as well. And that even if you don't roll the clip, you don't even have to roll the footage. The hell with it, because there was footage rolled. There were people that would come on and talk about how Republicans did outside of what they said they would do either pre-Trump days or right before Trump. And they actually blew all over that.

They did exactly what their regime leader said to do. You have a Ben Sasse who has kind of comported himself as somewhat of a Mr. Rogers of the Republican Party when he has voted 86, almost 90% of the time with Trump. So don't even bother reminding these people. Just do what the will of the people is, which is do exactly what needs to be done to keep some semblance of democracy and repair back to this nation. Here's a deal, Reese. So everybody keep buying. You need to ask, y'all going to pack the court? First of all, it's not called court packing. It's called expanding the courts. Court packing is a Republican phrase, okay?

So here, go on. Go ahead. What I will do is I'll put together a national commission of bipartisan commission of scholars, constitutional scholars, Democrats, Republicans, liberal, conservative, and I will ask them to over 180 days come back to me with recommendations as to how to reform the court system because it's getting out of whack, the way in which it's being handled. And it's not about court packing. I'm done with that. Look, here's the receipt. This is real simple. First of all, if you Democrats in the House and you in the Senate and you got control,

you could ignore that commission. You got all the power. Again, Republicans kept saying the American people elected us to do this our way. If the Democrats get control of the Senate, they should. I wouldn't even talk at the press conference. I say play that sound bite from Mitch McConnell. Listen, this is Joe Biden. This is why I was for Kamala Harris in the primaries,

because Joe Biden is not Brant Knuckles. But he also got an answer. Look, I get it. 12 days out. He's got a bad answer. I don't hate the answer. I think it's a good-ish answer for an issue that literally nobody is voting based on.

This is just the media, the mainstream media that's bored. They want to make it a horse race. They want to make a controversy out of a non-issue. They want to have some false equivalence between this potential court expansion, as you correctly put it, and the Republicans flouting every single rule under the sun and packing the court, because they're the ones who are doing the court packing with Amy Coney Barrett. So it's all bullshit. Nobody really cares. I don't hate the answer. But I also, like I said, this is what we signed up for. Those who rode with was riding with Biden all the way through.

This is what we're going to get. He's not a brass bare knuckles kind of guy. But as you but but ultimately, though, the power comes from the Congress. The Congress is the one that expands the court. So the pressure is really going to have to be on Speaker Pelosi or if she is a speaker again or Chuck Schumer. Those are the people that we're going to have to put pressure on. And listen, nobody is harder on Democrats than Democrats are. And so I don't doubt for one second that if we get the Democrats in power in terms of the White House, the Senate and the Congress, that there will be considerable pressure from the base to go on ahead and do that. Now, there's going to be pressure from the Republicans and all these never Trump Republicans who have spent the past couple of years trying to rehabilitate

their image and the image of the Republican Party, they need to ignore them, and they need to stick with their base. Okay. Whether it's judges or anything else, Democrats... Let me also qualify this.

The Republican Party is a hard-right party. The reality is there are no Joe Manchins on the Republican side. There are no Conor Lambs in the House on the Republican side. The reality is there are the woman from Arizona who is the United States Senator. Mrs. Samina? Yes. She ain't AOC.

So the point there is on the Democratic side, which is why, on the Senate side, which is why, you got to hold Minnesota. You got to hold Michigan. Okay, let's say you lose Doug Jones at Alabama. If you win Arizona, Colorado, Maine, Iowa, North Carolina, pick up one in Georgia. That's plus six. So now when you got to go hard, Manchin go oppose expanding the courts. Maybe a couple of others. All you need is 51.

And so, Greg, my issue is Democrats. All you need is 50. 50. Right. Break the tie. Break the tie. my issue democrats all you need is 50 50 right come on break the time break the time democrats don't play hardball stone cold i'ma whoop your ass politics like republicans that's what they need to learn to do well they may not ever learn how to do it. I mean, you know, I'm, you know, when I vote, I get the I voted sticker.

I take a picture of it, show people. I never put it on my lapel. I take the Jackie Robinson position. I don't wear the American flag. I'm born here. I'm a citizen. I have rights. That's very different than having some fidelity to the American national project.

It's going to erode at some point, sort of disintegrate. A lot of this, a lot of when that's going to happen, the next two weeks is going to determine a lot of that trajectory. And what does that have to do with this right now? Well, if the Democrats win the Senate, the first thing they have to do is get rid of the filibuster. Joe Biden, of course. Joe Biden

is a prop, again. In fact, there's a book called Yesterday's Man that talks about his racism, talks about his deep neoconservatism, all that. So, and guess what? All those people who were saying, what about Joe Biden? Guess what? List everything, cosign. Now, that ain't got nothing to do with what we talking about. Right. See, this is what happens. You know, when Biden and Harris are in and you get a majority in the

Senate, then you get rid of the filibuster and you don't even talk to them, you run it. Because this is going to be the only win that you have. Because the Democratic Party does not have a national identity like the white nationalist party. That's why I'm not calling them the GOP. The GOP isn't a big tent with fiscal conservatives, which, by the way, they're going to switch to after the election.

Oh, hell yeah. Y'all might as well go ahead. Y'all might as well go. We might as well get some T-shirts. All we got here is the debt. The debt. The debt. But what holds the GOP together now is white nationalism. That is the binding agent.

So, and I encourage everybody, you know, so Joe Biden, as you say, set up your commission. There's already a commission. It's called Take Back the Court. There's a board of directors that includes Alicia Garza. It's got Carol Anderson, Samuel Moyn, who's at Yale. Some of my friends were saying it doesn't matter because of the courts. Samuel Moyn said it doesn't matter. You know, y'all should read about three more lines in whatever blurb you've been reading

because Samuel Moyn is on that commission. And there's a guy named Aaron Belkin who says this. This is very simple. I'll end with this. Let's be very clear. The Supreme Court of the United States has been expanded six times in the history of this country. All it takes is a vote out of Congress and the president signed the bill.

What the Take Back the Court coalition is arguing is that not only should they expand the Supreme Court by at least the number of stolen seats that Republicans have, that means Justice McConnell Gorsuch and Justice Beer Kavanaugh. So maybe put two more seats on there. But they're also proposing that the district courts and the courts of appeals be expanded by the number that McConnell blocked Obama from appointing over the years when he held up those pieces. Now, why is that significant? Look at this. The Alabama case that is talking about this Merrill versus People First of Alabama,

John Merrill, the white national secretary of state in Alabama, the Supreme Court reversed the stay that the federal district court had in Alabama saying that people can vote curbside. They did it without any names. The only names in the opinion was the dissent that Sonia Masoudi-Moyor wrote. And Sonia Moyor quoted a black man

who overruled a state Supreme Court that I thought they let state Supreme Courts set their own rules. This is Alabama law. No. Alabama law. And see, this is where, you know what, Roland? You put your finger on it. Here's the vote. And here, this is and this is where you know what, Roland, you put your finger on it.

Here's the vote. And here, people, is why people are saying it doesn't matter. The courts don't matter. You should sew your lips shut and get out of the way of those of us who understand what's going on here. The Pennsylvania decision, Scarranti versus Bocavar, who is the secretary of state in Pennsylvania, a 4-4 decision. John Roberts understands what's going on. He understands that what's on the ballot is the notion of judicial supremacy. That in other words, people will respect the rule of law. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court

said, if your ballot is postmarked by the third of the month in November, we're going to count it for up to three days. The Supreme Court of the United States of America, the white nationalists on the court, including the Negro, who's a white nationalist, Clarence Thomas. By the way, 33-year-old Kathy Mazzell, clerk for Clarence Thomas. The Supreme Court reached into a state Supreme Court decision and inserted its opinion in for the state Supreme Court interpreting the state of Pennsylvania's constitution,

which has an expanded voting rights guarantee. Ladies and gentlemen, please understand what's going on here. If the Democrats, when the Democrats get this majority, all the rules that you want to have the court find steam, sit down, sis. In fact, have your staff raise your hand for the vote. You're out. Because, and break the filibuster. And if any, Joe Manchin, forget it, because guess what?

If and when the white Nassers lose this election, they know what's at stake. It's the end of their vision of America. And let's remind Joe Manchin when there was a scandal in West Virginia and the Supreme Court, which actually had

more Democrats on their Supreme Court than Republicans. What did the legislature do? They got rid of the entire Supreme Court. And guess what? They're now all Republican. They sure did. They sure did. In Arizona.

Hey, everybody who's watching, any Republican tries to tell you about court packing, all I want you to say is, please talk to me about Arizona, where three years ago, the Republican Party in Arizona expanded the state Supreme Court in Arizona. If y'all want to have this conversation,

we can have this conversation. See, again, if I'm, look, Joe Biden had to answer that question because here's the deal. All these punk asses in DC, Joe Biden had to answer that question because here's the deal. All these punk asses in me in D.C., are you going to answer it? Are you going to answer it? Are you going to answer it?

Are you going to answer it? Are you going to answer it? Say it and give him an answer. I'm telling you right now, if I'm Schumer, I ain't answering. I'm going to be like my man Chris Tucker Friday. Don't go on. Gone. Gone. Don't go on. Don't.

Bye, Felicia. Bye, Felicia. Amen. Because here's the deal. There's already a commission. It's called the United States Senate. But see, Roland, I mean, people, please understand

what Roland is saying and what we are all saying right now. Understand that when the Supreme Court of the United States overturns a state Supreme Court ruling that has nothing to do with the federal Constitution. Nothing.

They have thrown out the notion that they can't interfere. This is a federalism issue. And understand that the only reason, if you're in Pennsylvania and you postmarked by the 3rd of November, the only reason your vote might count is because John Roberts, who is a hard right white nationalist, understood that if I go with these nuts, Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas, Justice McGonnell Gorsuch and Justice Beer Kavanaugh, we are going to destroy the idea of judicial supremacy. Finally, the 4-4 tie was just on the state. Now they're going to appeal back and they're counting on the handmade beat here.

And they're going to have the people to run a 5-4, even if Robert sides with Sonia Sotomayor and them. So what's at stake right now? They have decided the Supreme Court of the United States can do whatever the hell it wants. So think your vote don't matter. Find out third week of November. And that's why I don't

care as big explicit as possible. Ain't no way in hell anybody can vote for Donald Trump or any Republican in the United States Senate because I keep trying to tell y'all, they're going to put a 33-year-old white woman who graduated from law school eight years ago on the federal judge for 54 years. That means that if your child today, your black child, is 20 years old, listen, that means that your black child, do the math, will be 74 before she gets replaced on the federal bench.

I do got to talk about the third-degree murder charge against Minneapolis. For Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, the killing of George Floyd, has been dropped. Judge Peter Cahill denied the motion to dismiss the other two charges against him. Chauvin still faces the higher charge of second-degree unintentional murder and a second-degree manslaughter charge. Cahill also denied the motions to dismiss charges against the other now former Minneapolis police officers. They were charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder and aiding and abetting second degree murder and aiding and abetting second degree manslaughter. That again, that's this is one of those things where again, again, we're talking about judges here. Erica, we're talking about judges. Why judges matter.

This is where a judge made a decision. Yep. Dr. Carr just laid it out quickly. Everybody should replay that and replay that for other people people because this same judge is up for election. He's on the ballot 2020 Minnesota. So make sure that you vote his ass out. Additionally, this same judge ensured that evidence from a 2019 arrest of our deceased brother who was lynched before the entire globe, would be entered into evidence. Mind you, we have Attorney General Keith Ellison that is prosecuting this case. And let me tell you, it looks very much so likely as we think about that these folks will not go to trial until March, that there's going to be a chipping away. So when people say that their vote does not matter, listen, your very life is on the ballot.

And if you don't live in Minnesota, there are judges that are just like the judge, Peter Cahill, in Minnesota, that's on the ballot in your community. So do understand, not voting is really voting for your own position in this country. Life or death is on the ballot. And so I think that this is something that people need to be paying very much so close attention to as people go voting early or they're voting on November 3rd. Look at all of those judges that are on the ballot. Just do a simple Google search and see some of the ways that their cases have turned out. Google up so you can see an image of what those folks look like.

And then, in fact, make your vote accordingly. Recy. Yeah. Also, I mean, in a lot of cases, there are multiple judges on the ballot. And so maybe there are five judges and you get to select four. Still do a Google search and make sure that you're selecting the right four out of the five judges. But yeah, I mean, absolutely. The one silver lining to me on the lower charge being dismissed is that it kind of eliminates that cop out of like, you know, because a lot of times these cases, the cops, if they are convicted at all, they're convicted of the lowest possible charge. And so that's one small silver lining that I have to say about it.

But going back to the judiciary thing, there's one last point I want to make on that. You know, Erica and Dr. Carr laid it out brilliantly, is that with the Supreme Court, I don't know if you guys have noticed, they have this shadow docket. And as Dr. Carr mentioned, they have these opinions that are now unsigned. And so there is a danger here

where these folks have now this massive amount of power and they don't even feel like they owe us an explanation. They're not even going to bullshit us around. They're just going to have this shadow ruling and go on about their business. So going back to Roland's point, and then I'll wrap it up, that's why the Democrats, there are no rules anymore. The Supreme Court, when they overturned the Alabama decision

and didn't bother to release the vote tally, it was only the dissent that was signed by three people, there are no rules. So when you have the power, you better damn well seize it and make the change that we need to make. Final comment, Greg. Recy is right. They're not even going to tell you why. You know why?

Because legally, they can't explain it. Ask any law professor. They can't explain it. They're just going to say, just put the vote up. And Erica is absolutely right as well. You've got to come in here and vote intelligently. And Roland, as you said, not only Kathy Mazzell, 33, Benjamin Bratton is 39, the one who's replacing Justin Walker, who McConnell put on the D.C. Circuit. He's going to be in the Western District of Kentucky. Christy Johnson just turned 40. She is coming out of Mississippi,

the Southern District. Taylor McNeil is 37. They're going to put him on the Southern District. All these cats in their 30s. And so what happened in Minneapolis and what happened in Minnesota is clear evidence that it does matter. The Democratic Party is not the savior of black people. But what Erica said is essentially very important. Our rights are always on the ballot.

Please understand that our rights are always on the ballot. And what Erica has said is absolutely correct. You have to vote as if your rights are always on the ballot. And what Erica has said is absolutely correct. You have to vote as if your rights are always on the ballot. And if the Democratic Party is the tackle dummy you use to push into the system, then use them. But we don't need nobody taping for us. We have to invade and advance our best interests.

The third degree murder charge, a manslaughter charge, that's typically a charge, as we know, like you shooting into a crowd. It was going to be a stretch anyway. The rest of the charges survived. But like you said, we got to look very close on how this judge is going to ride herd on jury selection on everything. Are they going to change the venue? And so please, everyone, listen, listen to Reesey and please listen to Erica on this issue. It's time to be smart. Take the D and R off. Put the B on. Black.

Folks, as a reason why we want you to support this show. Also, folks, here's the deal. The presidential debate is happening at 9 o'clock tonight. Here's the deal. After the debate, we will all be back with post-analysis breaking down what you heard.

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He sent me the graphic. Y'all should see it on our social media. The graphic, of course, with this debate. I should have told Kenan to use a worse photo. I should have had one of them with Donald Trump looking like he was truly crazy. And so again, tonight, y'all, we're going to be live tonight after the debate.

Joe Biden, Donald Trump. And let's see if cutting the mic off works. Also, this is the first time in 30 years, it has been 30 years since a black woman has actually moderated a presidential debate. Carol Simpson was the last. Kristen Welker of NBC will be there tonight. Trump, he's been attacking her all week, saying she's an activist, a parent, a Democrat,

all that sort of stuff. But let's see who acts like a grown-ass child tonight, who acts like a statesman. We already know that answer. I'll see y'all later. Holla! 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. And this is Season 2 of the War on Drugs podcast. Yes, sir. Last year, a lot of the problems of the drug war. This year, a lot of the biggest names in music and sports. This kind of starts that a little bit, man. We met them at their homes. We met them at their recording studios.

Stories matter, and it brings a face to them. It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Sometimes as dads, I think we're too hard on ourselves. We get down on ourselves on not being able to, you know, we're the providers, but we

also have to learn to take care of ourselves. A wrap-away, you got to pray for yourself as well as for everybody else, but never forget yourself. Self-love made me a better dad because I realized my worth. Never stop being a dad. That's dedication. Find out more at fatherhood.gov. Brought to you by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Ad Council. This is an iHeart Podcast.