#RolandMartinUnfiltered - President Biden's 2024 State of the Union address

Episode Date: March 8, 2024

President Biden's 2024 State of the Union address Watch #BlackStarNetwork streaming 24/7  Amazon Fire TV / Amazon News, Prime Video, Freevee + Plex.tv Download the Black Star Network app at http://www.blackstarnetwork.com! We're on iOS, AppleTV, Android, AndroidTV, Roku, FireTV, XBox and SamsungTV. The #BlackStarNetwork is a news reporting platform covered under Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. It is State of the Union 2024. Huge night for President Joe Biden. He must speak to the issues that the country is looking at also and resolve some lingering questions regarding his ability to lead in the future.

We've got a jam-packed show for you. Lots of folks joining us. Congressman, Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett, Lieutenant Governor of Michigan. We've got the mayors of Birmingham, Montgomery, Buffalo. Also, you're hearing from Reverend William Barber, Reverend Frederick Haynes, Pastor Jamal Bryant. We'll also be talking to also top attorney generals in the country from Illinois, also from Minnesota, folks. And so plus we have two of our house speakers, one from Pennsylvania and one from Virginia.

It's time for our special edition of Roland Martin Unfiltered right here on the Black Star Network. He's got whatever the piss he's on it. Whatever it is, he's got the scoop, the fact, the fine. right here on the Black Star Network. Just for kicks, he's rollin' Yeah, yeah It's Uncle Roro, yo Yeah, yeah It's Rollin' Martin, yeah Yeah, yeah Rollin' with Rollin' now Yeah, yeah He's funky, he's fresh, he's real the best

You know he's Rollin' Martin Now The best you know he's rolling, Martel. Now. Martel. President Joe Biden will address a joint session of Congress. Folks are gathering there as we speak. He'll be making his way to the U.S. Capitol in just a bit. It is a huge night for the president, not only because it's the annual State of the Union Address, but also there are so many issues at play. This is an election season. Super Tuesday was on Tuesday night, and people are asking the question, is he up to serving another four years? He's 81 years old. Polls show even a lot of Democrats don't want him to be their nominee. But the reality is he is going to be on the ticket along with Vice President Kamala Harris. A lot of things to be talking about tonight, taking credit for a robust economy. But the problem is a lot of Americans aren't actually giving him credit for that.

Polls show that Donald Trump is up anywhere from 15 to 20 points when it comes to the economy, which is absolutely mind boggling. Also, Israel and Hamas was happening in Gaza is still top of the line, even with Vice President Harris's comments in Selma on Sunday. So many folks, especially young voters and Muslims, have a problem with President Biden's stance. And, of course, what's happening with the border for African-Americans. You've got voting issues. You've got criminal justice. You've got all sorts of things that he has to address. Yesterday, I talked with Steve Benjamin, who heads the Office of Public Engagement for the White House, and he gave us this preview of tonight's State of the Union address.

All right, Steve, glad to have you here. Let's jump into it. First of all, this is a State of the Union speech that President Joe Biden is giving tomorrow night. Now, that, but it's also an election year. So, but this is not an election speech. And so speak to really the fundamental themes that he really wants to focus on that serves as a report, if you will, a, you know, an assessment of where the nation is. No, this is indeed a state of the state of the union. And obviously,

in many state of the unions, obviously, there's always the line state of union, strong or healthy. However, the president chooses to articulate it. And this is, in fact, not hyperbole. It's the president being clear on exactly where we are. I mean, we're talking about just over three years, 15 million jobs created, lowest unemployment rates literally that we've seen in a generation, including for black people and brown people as well. At one point, unemployment being lower than ever recorded since we started keeping data in 1972. But over two years now, unemployment below 4% untold. Massive investments into the American economy. These four cornerstone pieces of legislation, three of which make the investing in America promise that the president made very real.

Obviously, the very first one being the American Rescue Plan. You think about where we started just over three years ago, the greatest pandemic since 1918, the greatest economic unrest we saw probably since 1929, and the greatest social unrest after the murder of George Floyd since 1968, all wrapped up into one. And the president, leading from the front, working closely with people in the community, mayors and local government officials all across this country, stood up our economy and saved the American economic system. We've seen that manifested in so many different ways. We talk about unemployment.

We talk about job creation. We're also seeing massive investments through the chip spill and making sure that these supply chains that were so disrupted throughout the pandemic that we're now no longer relying on the rest of the world to build semiconductor chips, but we're going to do it here domestically. American jobs in communities all across this country, we've seen the private sector show up with a few hundred billion dollars in response to this policymaking. What we're seeing through the Inflation Reduction Act and the infrastructure

bill, I mean, think about it, Rowan. Every single lead pipe in America removed and replaced by 2030, what that has meant in terms of public health to communities of color over the last several decades. Unprecedented investments in clean energy, in clean energy jobs and fighting climate change, a huge issue of importance to not only all of us, but certainly the young people like my two teenage daughters. There's a huge record of success that I know I've listened to you and watched you online that we need to do a better job talking about.

The president's an humble man, and every once in a while, you got to balance out that humility with not hubris, but a chance to at least say, this is what we did, and this is what we did together. This is what America can do when we work together, and that the choices are, again, it's election year. I'm not on the election side of the equation. I'm a retired mayor. I'm not a current public official. But the choices are very clear about if we're going to do this together or if we're going to slip back into this divisive nature of us versus them. I will say one more thing, too. He's not—the president's not shy about being very clear that he works for working-class people in this country, that folks who are working

every single day, pay for their medicine, keep a roof over their head, send the kids on the school, making sure they have a chance to move maybe into the middle class and or grow the middle class. And his policies and his tax policies, including his efforts to keep costs down for working families, are very real to who he is as an individual. So I suspect we might hear some thoughts and some input and some proclamations from him in that space as well. So the point there, so all those things that you laid out there, all those things are absolutely

critical. But yet when you look at polling data, which I hate always talking about, you still have people giving Donald Trump 20 plus percent more points when it comes to improving the economy. And so the numbers are there. Even you take out the one year after covid job growth, you look at inflation being brought down, you look at black unemployment. So you have a strong economic record. Why is that not translating into the American public saying, man, these things are killing with Biden. We got to keep them in place. Yeah. I referenced being a mayor at one time for 12 years of my life. And oftentimes we would rally around three, maximum about five points of things that we did. It's a lot tougher when you got 300 or 500 success points.

And we legitimately have that. So that's our job. That's our responsibility on those of us on the government side, making sure people see and feel the successes. And then obviously the campaign has its job and I'm sure they'll do that, of, again, connecting those dots. It's a lot more difficult now than it might have been even four years ago or eight years ago of making sure you have someone's attention span in a meaningful way

in which you can actually share these successes. And again, the data is the data. It's incontrovertible. And we see the successes. We have to make sure people feel it as well. And that's part of our challenge and our responsibility to make sure people are seeing these successes. And we're talking about, as I've heard you speak about in the past, we're talking about cutting black child poverty in half. We're talking about home ownership being up. We're talking about records number, a record number of black owned businesses being started over the last three years. There's a lot to talk about, but yeah, making sure that we don't have to simplify the messages because people are smarter than you think they are. People can understand it, but really just

cutting through all the noise is something that is going to be on our side of the ledger, making sure we recognize that good government and good policymaking is good politics. But certainly on the campaign, are the strong things happening by the Civil Rights Division in the Department of Justice, the patterns and practices investigations, the number of prison wardens and jail officials and others who have been held accountable. And I personally think that's a huge miss. A lot of people obviously are not happy that the George Floyd Justice Act was not passed, but the administration has done a lot in that area.

Is he going to talk about that? Is he even going to mention that? Because, look, that's holding people accountable, and I think the American people, especially African Americans, would be happy to hear that. And also what they've been doing when it comes to redlining and discrimination in lending. Yeah. No, we've been the points you make about the Justice Department. The team there is doing an excellent job.

And obviously, this White House is incredibly respectful of the relationship between DOJ and the White House, always making sure that people know that they're working their butts off over there. But those decisions made there never, ever politicized decisions. I will tell you this, all of us, just in the wake of George Floyd's murder, and some of us talking about it for decades and doing work in that space around police accountability and reform and really making sure we have a justice system that works for everyone. People need to remember that the Republicans in Congress stood in the way of the George Floyd Justice and Policing Act becoming law. That this president, literally every major element of that piece of legislation is indeed

part of the president's executive order. That applies to all federal law enforcement agencies. We've also had some, obviously, some more strides that include this new database that helps lay out and continues to grow over time of this challenge of officers who may have committed a crime or been engaged in some behavior actually being able to track them so they can't go from agency to agency to agency. Obviously, the work the president's done, the marijuana reform, doesn't leave anyone who should be in jail. Pardoning these marijuana convictions for simple possession as we have this hodgepodge of laws all around the country. They've done a great deal of work in that space.

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

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I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops called this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser told them. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley

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

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

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Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. And some, I'm sure, including tomorrow night, as he articulates his vision for where the country needs to go and what he needs and demands from Congress

consistent with that. We'll hear some of that. Last question for you. You mentioned earlier black owned businesses, record number being started. And I hear that a lot. You got this generation today. They're not focused on getting a job. They're not focused on government and social services. They're focused on creating economic opportunities. And so is that, I know the vice president last week was in North Carolina talking about billions going for entrepreneurs. Is that something that he's also going to center? Because, again, what I'm hearing from people from all parts of the country is they want to really hear more about that, creating the economic opportunities

to be able to create and build wealth. Yeah, it really has been a generational shift. You've seen it and I've seen it just with some of the people that we spend time with, our fraternity brothers and our sisters and mothers, particularly post-pandemic, a lot of folks are really leaning into the agency and using technology in different ways to make the Carolina this week, we've seen a record number of businesses. And I think you'll probably hear the president talk a lot about some of the infrastructure, the access to capital that allows people, you know, 59 years after Selma really start taking on the challenge of this century, which is wealth creation, which is generational wealth creation. How do you indeed close the racial wealth gap? And I'm sure we'll hear something about that.

It'll talk about some of the component parts that, if we're paying attention, go into that. How do we make sure that 21st century infrastructure is indeed available in every community. The investments both in the infrastructure bill, putting broadband into every single community so people have access to go to school or further education, have access to getting good jobs, and also have access to start new businesses. How the Affordable Connectivity Program plan, what that's led to, and 23 million people across the country have access to the internet in partnership with the private sector now that they did not have before this program.

And then, honestly, just the work that you do every single day just to make sure people are not hit with excess price gouging or junk fees which the president very much so um feels means if you have more money at the end of the month whatever your application is right now uh you have more opportunity to invest in yourself whatever your hopes and dreams happen to be as you choose as he tries to grow the middle class but uh but this this this conversation on economic empowerment i know you and I have been at some of the same tables over the last couple of years, is central to, I think, the hopes and dreams of so many folks right now. And that's intergenerational. And I wouldn't be surprised

if the president spoke about that as well. All right, Steve and Benjamin, always a pleasure. And see, I let Kappas on my show. That's all you get people to watch, man. No, see, right there. We know who runs America. It's the Alphas. I appreciate it, brother. Thanks a lot. All right, folks.

We've got a lot of folks on our panel in the studio. To my left, we've got Jelena Porter, former principal deputy spokesman for the U.S. Department of State. Recy Colbert, host of her own show, Sirius XM Radio. Erica Savage, founder and host of Reframed Brain Podcast. Dr. Mustafa Santiago Ali, former senior advisor for environmental justice at the EPA. To his left is wannabe gumbo queen, Nola Haynes. Of course, Dr. Nola Haynes with Jotown University School of Foreign Service.

Yeah, I said it. I said, no, she can't cook. And Dr. Grant Carr, Department of African American Studies, Howard University. Glad to have everybody here. So Mustafa, big night. Obviously the most eyeballs, frankly, that a president is going to get on a particular speech. What must he do tonight?

One, he has to show his competency. People are curious. Does he have the mental fortitude to be able to do the job? Many of us believe that he does. The other part is that he's got to bring it home. You know, we often have these high-level policy conversations about the sets of resources that are out there, but he's got to be able to talk about how they're actually helping to change everyday people's lives. How are you going to make sure there's food on the table?

How are you going to make sure that people are able to deal with their utilities? How are you going to make sure that people can access the capital that's necessary to be able to address the wealth gap that's going on? How are you going to make sure that people can access the capital that's necessary to be able to address the wealth gap that's going on? How are you going to make sure that you're also telling folks and sharing with folks about how you're addressing the climate crisis and environmental injustice? So along with housing and transportation, which is also important because it plays a role in the disposable income that folks may or may not have depending on how much they're spending. So he has a big job, but it is really about looking presidential,

sounding presidential, and being able to actually share with folks how real change is happening. So I hope he brings the examples of what's going on in Jackson, Mississippi, what's going on in Kansas City, and how his resources from the Inflation Reduction Act, from the Climate Bill, from the CHIPS Act, so forth and so on, is actually making real change. Jelena, this administration was smoking coming out of the gate. Everything changed when it came to the Afghanistan pullout. That was the beginning of, frankly, the numbers just dropping big time.

Even though it was the right decision Americans kept saying that they wanted to pull out you get the right criticizing how it was done and ever since then he has not been able to gain his footing in any poll numbers when it happened, and we worked hand-in-hand with the White House and the Department of Defense. But you know what I'll say? It was the right thing to do. We had to do it with the time, and what we're going to see here is a broad-based spectrum of defending democracy on today's speech. But I think what I would like to hear is about foreign policy and the black perspective. And a lot of what we don't talk about, we talk about racism and other domestic issues being on the table for black Americans. But the people here decided the 2020 vote.

And we talk to people here. We talk about immigration. We talk about what's going on in the Middle East. And those are important to black Americans, too. So I think we need to talk about we'll see what he talks about now. And hopefully it'll be the rest of the month when we see what's going on. All right, folks, hold tight one second.

We're going to go to a break. We're going to come back, talk more with our panel. We're going to also hear in this hour from Reverend William Barber with the Poor People's Campaign, what he wants to hear from the president tonight. You're watching this special edition

of Roller Barton Unfiltered, State of Our Union 2024, right here on the Black Star Network, back in a moment. hatred on the streets a horrific scene a white nationalist rally that descended into deadly violence white people are losing their damn minds there's an angry pro-trump mob storm to the u.S. Capitol. We're about to see the rise of what I call white minority resistance. We have seen white folks in this country who simply cannot tolerate black folks voting. I think what we're seeing is the inevitable result of violent denial. This is part of American history. Every time that people of color have made progress, whether real or symbolic, there has been what Carol Anderson at Emory University calls white rage as a backlash.

This is the wrath of the Proud Boys and the Boogaloo Boys. America, there's going to be more of this. This country is getting increasingly racist in its behaviors and its attitudes because of the fear of white people. The fear that they're taking our jobs, they're taking our resources, they're taking our women. This is white fear. The next Get Wealthy with me, Deborah Owens, America's Wealth Coach. I'm sure you've heard that saying that the only thing guaranteed is death and taxes. The truth is that the wealthy get wealthier by understanding tax strategy. And that's exactly the conversation that we're going to have on the next Get Wealthy, where you're going to learn wealth hacks that help you turn your wages into wealth. Taxes is one of the largest expenses you've ever had.

You've really got to know how to manage that thing and get that under control so that you can do well. That's right here on Get Wealthy, only on Blackstar Network. Hello, I'm Paula J. Parker. Trudy Proud on The Proud Family. Louder and Prouder on Disney+. And you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. Welcome back to our State of Our Union coverage. Noel, I want to go to you. Before we went to the break, we were talking about Afghanistan.

Now the president is having to deal with what's happening in Israel and Hamas. This is a huge issue. The vice president called for it, came out publicly, talked about a ceasefire. Hamas is the sign of agreement. This is a major problem for his coalition. It is killing him with young voters, with Muslim voters. Michigan is a swing state. He cannot lose young voters.

Also, you have to factor in, even though he's a quack, Robert Kennedy Jr. now is getting ballot access in battleground states as well. That could be problematic for President Biden and Vice President Harris. Right. You know, this is a foreign policy election. It absolutely is. Joe Biden is a foreign policy president. And to your point earlier, there hasn't been a lot of wins on the board, depending on how you're looking at it. With Israel and Gaza, a lot of the things that needed to happen was a pivot. And that pivot was not hard to achieve. But we all have televisions. We can all see what's going on. You know, there was a recent national defense

memorandum that was released about looking at the ways in which humanitarian crises are unfolding in Gaza. As we can all see them, there are a lot of legal ramifications that you have to jump through. There are a lot of legal hoops through all of this. So there is a pivot. It is not happening in the way in which a lot of people would like to see. People don't like to see food being dropped to other human beings. People don't like to see that.

But how else is the food going to get in there? I don't love that reason, but this is the level of difficulty that we're dealing with. I mean, from the beginning, from the beginning of the presidency, which I want to remind people, Afghanistan is not a Biden-Harris situation. It is a former administration

situation. Well, if the former, it's his situation when you're in power, you get blamed. Absolutely. I mean, bottom phone is his situation, when you're in power, you get blameless. Absolutely. I mean, bottom line is the decision to pull out happened before, but how it happened, right? You're going to get the blame. Yeah. The optics were terrible. People hopping on airplanes. I worked in that space for two years after the fall of Afghanistan. I can tell you some horrific situations. But at the end of the day, as many Americans are waking up to the reality that there's nothing easy about foreign policy.

First and foremost, Joe Biden is the president of the United States, not any other country. Well, here's the thing, Recy. The recourse this president has, and he's not there, and he may not get there, he may have to tell Netanyahu, I'm cutting you off.

At the end of the day, I mean, we can sit here and keep hoping he does the same thing. We already know, Netanyahu, you can't stand him or Democrats. Netanyahu would love to have Trump back. And so the only leverage he has to say, you don't get our money, you don't get our guns, you don't get our military unless you end this. Period. I mean, I understand that it's a complex issue. The bear-hugging of Bibi Netanyahu was a mistake, and it took far too long to pivot, and the pivots are far too incremental.

They don't go far enough. They're kind of trying to see which way the wind blows a little bit on how far they can go, and sometimes they get it right. Immediate ceasefire, we need a permanent ceasefire. But immediate ceasefire is something. But then when you follow it up with uh you know putting a time frame on it where you follow it up with saying israel has the right to self-defense which i don't know how you can describe obliterating uh thousands tens of thousands of children how you

can describe starving people as self-defense. Those kinds of rhetorical, you know, talking out of both sides of your mouth is not helpful to their cause. So they need to pick a moral compass on this issue and they need to stick with it. And they need to bring the people that are already going to rah-rah Biden-Harris, you know, whatever they say is where we need to go. They need to bring those people over. They need to bring the people that are voting uncommitted, the people that are giving them red alarm signs that something needs to be done about this policy. They need to bring that forward.

And so as long as they try to play both sides of the fence, this is going to be a losing issue for them. And I want them to get it right, not as a political issue, but as a human issue, as a humanity issue. Erica, when you look at the domestic agenda, again, as I talked about with Steve Benjamin, the numbers are there. Unemployment being low, record black unemployment. When you look at wages, when you look at stock market, when you look at inflation going down

from nine down to three, all those things. Yet, Trump is still polling 20% higher. I dare say that's because Republicans historically have always claimed that they are excellent with the economy. But if you actually look at every single presidency dating back to the 50s, Democrats always did better in the economy. As Ply say, they got to learn how to brag. Period. You have to play that game because what we're seeing now, if anybody's paying

attention to social media, what the White House is doing, they're not letting anything slide. Excuse me. So if we're paying attention to social media, we can see very distinctly that the White House is not letting anything slide. But this is actually the activity they should have been engaged in for the past three years, because that is what people want to see. I remember Recy talking about for years on this very platform that people like to see a fighter. People like to see people who are engaged in the fight. So when we do lay out all of these wins that have been happening across the states, particularly in black communities,

we also need to see how that's actually filtering down to people, right? So the ground game needs to be strong because the strongest constituency, to be very clear and frank in this election, are the people who are uncommitted to the vote. So that is why all of this messaging that's being done at the high level, we're all here in D.C., we're inside of the Beltway, that needs to be messaged outside down to people who are saying, it's not affecting my $1.99. I'm not seeing the improvements. President Biden talked about last year in the State of Union address, but do it in a way to let people know that we hear you, we see you, these are the things that are working for you, and for the next years coming up, if you do

hire us again, this is exactly what we plan to do to improve that. And here's the funding behind it to support it as well. Greg, this is our first day of the union without our dear friend Joe Madison, who passed away, and he would often say, you to put it where the ghost can get it. No question.

And they have to explain to people what they've done. A lot of things have been passed. In fact, if you look at purely from a policy standpoint, this administration actually has done more than what President Obama did in his first term. No question. But for some reason, they don't know how to explain it. Well, they're trying to hold together a fragile coalition. And the first state of the union since our friend Bill Spriggs passed.

Last time we were all together, he was here. You know, the Democrats rarely miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity. And just like we talked about last time, there's the speech we would love him to give and the speech he'll probably give. Now hopefully, he'll get a bailout like last time and maybe Jerry Lawler, I mean, Marjorie Taylor Greene, will show up and do some WWE kind of stuff or maybe some lack of impulse control white nationalist

will shout because he's best when he's not scripted. And so we'd like that happy warrior, the dark Brandon, the kind of thing. And he's got mega mike over his shoulder who should never have scheduled this because this is the kickoff of the campaign so in other words this is the moment when you can punch him in the face you better because you couldn't do it during the primaries this is your chance now the reality is he's got a coalition the democrats have a coalition that he won't embrace even though he's got that credit he's

gotten rid of the toonie Loon out of Arizona. Hopefully Gallego can get rid of her. Money-making Joe Manchin is out, and there's going to be a Republican there. He should make the speech to say, look, we were this close. With Build Back Better, we had the recovery thing, we had the family thing.

If them two hadn't gone rogue, it was the biggest quantum leap since the Great Society. And even though they cut us our throats, we still got a quarter of it. All of y'all are better off. You'll probably talk about the price of milk and all that kind of stuff, trying to get it out. But the bottom line is this.

The coalition, you got those suburbs and ex-urban whites who are straight liberals and progressives. They just don't want the Negroes to come out there. You got the blacks, he's taken for granted. You try to ask Steve Benjamin about what Kristen Clark is doing, and he dodged every way from Sunday because they can't talk about race. But on the other side,

you have the chaos theory of Steve Bannon and them. Their thing is, ironically, the Republicans are fighting the culture war, and the Democrats are fighting the economic war. This is the most left government since probably Lyndon Johnson. And if he would say that, if he would embrace it, hell, he wrapped up Bernie Sanders and

Elizabeth Warren. If he would say that, he could win this election in a last minute. He doesn't want to say it because the reality is he likes to position himself as a moderate and a centrist. Exactly. But that ain't the policy he's talking about. That's right. Cliff Albright, co-founder of Black Voters Matter.

Cliff, today is actually the 59th anniversary of Bloody Sunday. And this is something that this president should be leaning in in this particular speech, challenging Republicans, saying, if you say you so-called love John Lewis, why don't you pass the bill with his name on it? And so I certainly hope voting rights gets a significant portion of this speech tonight. Yeah, hey, Roland, glad to see you. And yeah, you're right, on this anniversary, you know, we had the celebration this past weekend

in Selma of the bridge crossing, but today is the actual anniversary of Bloody Sunday. We know that he's going to be talking about quote-unquote democracy. We believe that he's going to be talking about, quote unquote, democracy. We believe that he's going to be talking about voting rights and not just, you know, the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, which is very important and is named after John Lewis. But there's the other one as well, the Freedom of Vote Act, which John Lewis actually wrote like the first one third of. And so we want to hear him name check both of those bills. And more importantly,

we want him to go even further and say, not only do I want to pass this, but I want to pass it so I can sign it on day one. We need to hear that day one language so that he can send a message that this is something that they need to be talking about all through the rest of this year so that they're ready to go on day one of his next next term. And Freddie Haynes, Reverend Frederick Haynes, is president, CEO of Rainbow Push Coalition. And, you know, you know, on you know, on that particular point, whether we're talking about voting, whether we also are talking about criminal justice, as I said to Steve, they didn't get the George Floyd Justice Act. But you got to say something about how his DOJ has been effective.

You know, look, I get this whole deal of separation of church and state. But damn it, you appointed the attorney general. You don't want. So when folks voted, that's what we expected. Not to talk about it is absolutely insane. Well, Roland, the sad reality is that. A lot of times the big economic forces we hear about on the news show up in our lives in small ways. Three or four days a week, I would buy two cups of banana pudding, but the price has gone up. So now I only buy one. The demand curve in action. And that's just one of the things we'll be covering on Everybody's Business from Bloomberg Businessweek. I'm Max Chavkin. And I'm Stacey Vanek-Smith. Every Friday, we will be diving into the biggest stories in business, taking a look at

what's going on, why it matters, and how it shows up in our everyday lives. But guests like Businessweek editor Brad Stone, sports reporter Randall Williams, and consumer spending expert Amanda Mull will take you inside the boardrooms, the backrooms, even the signal chats that make our economy tick. Hey, I want to learn about VeChain. I want to buy some blockchain or whatever it is that they're doing. So listen to Everybody's Business on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops called this taser the revolution. But not everyone was

convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser told them. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multi-billion dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st

and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th. Add free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Lott. And this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast. Yes, sir. We are back. In a big way. In a very big way.

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

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

It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. This administration does not get the wisdom of Maya the success, the successes that have taken place during this administration economically. There are too many things where we do not feel like

he's had our back as he promised to have our back. And so when we look at the George Floyd and Policing Act and how that has not necessarily come to fruition. But now let's explain why it has not come to fruition and then cast a vision for what we're going to do going forward. Roland, the bottom line is that, as has been said earlier, sadly, this is going to be a foreign policy election that may mean that we take our eye off the ball of what's happening domestically, domestically, where too many of us don't feel the economic advancement that has taken place under this administration. We do not feel that because what we do feel is the mishandling stubbornly of what's going on in Gaza and the ignoring of what's

taking place in Haiti. And so as long as you have these things that we are feeling that are not good, the sad reality is we ain't feeling him. And so what I want to say to the president is, please, you said almost four years ago, we've had your back and you're going to always have our back. Well, we define what it looks like for you to have our back as opposed to you defining that. And again, it calls for you to press toward making sure that we have the George Floyd and Policing Act dealing with criminal justice reform. Because right now, what's really sad is that Agent Orange, it seems in the minds of many, was the one who engaged in criminal justice reform.

And the devil in hell knows that's a lie. But again, as our brilliant frat brother said, Democrats always miss an opportunity, never fail to miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity. And here is an opportunity to tell the truth and to set the record straight, especially on the anniversary of Bloody Sunday. If he don't get that, he's missing an opportunity. Reverend Reverend Barber, whenever we see the State of the Union addresses the president, they always talk about the middle class, the middle class, the middle class, the middle class. And I remember the night I was on CNN and Obama never even mentioned poor. And they don't want to use the word poor. They don't want to use the word low-income workers. As y'all laid out, 34 million poor and low income folks did not vote in 2016. And so this fixation of the middle class, I get it.

But you got folks who are poor and low income who would love to go up to middle when they always talk about the middle folks trying to go up to upper class. And so I'm sure you're looking for this president to send some type of signal when it comes to those folks who are largely white, who are also rural and a mix of black and Latino. Roller, can you hear me? Yeah, we got it. And the data says that poor and low-wage people don't vote against their own interests. The new data says when they do vote, they vote 56 to 57 percent of the time for a progressive agenda. And the number one reason they don't vote is because nobody talks to them. But let me go back. Like, for instance, we said we just celebrated.

For what? Why did you go to Selma to celebrate rather than recommit yourself to the fight if the very thing we went to celebrate has been gutted and it's not there? There have been a thousand voter suppression bills since 2013, the ending of Section 5. We have to stop some stuff, too, celebrating when we ought to be recommitting. The other piece of this is, when we talk about the poor, the sheer volume of poor and low-wage folk. If you look at the margin of victory

in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Michigan, the total margin of victory was 270,000 votes. The number of poor and low-wage voters that did not vote is over 4 million. Over 4 million. My dear friend Freddie Haynes said about feeling us. How can you say you feel us and understand us if 60% of black people are poor and low-wage and you're not talking about it? 60%. 26 million people. 60, not 6, 60 percent of poor and low wage.

We talk about unemployment being down, but it's down from COVID levels. It was it was and we talk about the programs that were passed, but they were made temporary by moderate Democrats and Republicans. So the programs that were working, for instance, we cut child poverty in half. I mean, by 60 percent for six months, and then dropped folk right back in poverty. The last piece I want to mention to you is this administration has been undermined by its own people. For instance, we pushed and got $15 an hour minimum wage. Minimum wage had been raised since 2009. We got it pushed through the House. Bobby Scott, that's Pelosi, they got it through the House, went to the Senate.

That bill was killed by eight Democrats and 50 Republicans. Kamala Harris would have passed, cast a deciding vote. If that one piece of legislation had passed, 43 percent of African-Americans would have been lifted out of poverty and low wages. Fifty-two million Americans would have money in their pocket today, $15 minimum wage as a minimum living wage. That would have completed the agenda from the March on Washington in 63, when Dr. King and Bayard Rustin and A. Philip Randolph were saying that part of the civil rights agenda had to be raising the minimum wage by 75 percent to $2 and indexing it with inflation, which today would be about $17, $18 an hour. The Voting Rights Act that we got it through, but then Manchin

wrote it. The bill they want to push now is the Manchin vote, not the John Lewis, and it's a bad deal. It codifies voter ID as federal law and allows the states to do what they want to. But be that as it may, it was two Democrats and

50 Republicans that said no. we have to talk about this. So Biden is going to have to take on the so-called moderates in his own party. As Martin Luther King said, the greatest enemies of the civil rights movement were moderates who were more in love with order than they are with reordering society. And they ran on living wages and voting rights in 2016—excuse me, 2020. They must put that back on the table. You're talking about 52 million people. You're talking about—if you look at all of the states where the margin of victory, Roland, was within 3%, and in Texas, where it was 5%, poor and low-wage voters make up 36% to 45% of the vote. So Linda Lake says, as one of our major pollsters, there's no way in the world you would not

talk to that block of voters every day unless you are interested in political suicide. Political suicide. And so the very fact that we can't do that, and on the other piece, on the world stage, sure, we have to muster the courage to challenge the indiscriminate violence of Hamas and the grotesque indiscriminate response of Netanyahu and his regime. But because of America's own history with genocide toward the Native American people when we supported apartheid and what happened to African-American. We also have to call out Somalia and the Congo and the Sudan and challenge this whole death

reality that exists in the world. But hear this. How can you, with credibility, call out those deaths when poverty is now the fourth leading cause of death in America? 295,000 people a year, 800 people a day dying from poverty and low wages. If you can't address that, it undermines your credibility in other places. And if you don't address that, no matter how much you talk about what you have done, if you don't say, this is what we've done, and give us the power in the House, the Senate, and the presidency, and this is what we'll do in the first week of a new administration, we'll give you, we'll do voting rights, we'll do living

wages, we'll do health care. If you don't tell people that, then what they end up thinking is you're going to get the same old, same old. A lot of good things have been done, but good is not enough in a post-COVID reality where people's lives were fundamentally destroyed in a pandemic. And we called people essential workers and then treated them like they were expendable and sent them to work playing Russian roulette with their lives. And to this day, we've not even had a week of mourning. A lot of times the big economic forces we hear about on the news show up in our lives in small ways. Three or four days a week, I would buy two cups of banana pudding.

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

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

the answer is yes, but there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops called this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that Taser told them.

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

really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1 Taser Incorporated on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th. Ad-free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Lott.

And this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast. We are back. In a big way. In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives. This is kind of star-studded a little bit, man. We got Ricky Williams, NFL player, Heisman Trophy winner. It's just a compassionate choice to allow players all reasonable means to

care for themselves. Music stars Marcus King, John Osborne from Brothers Osborne. We have this misunderstanding of what this quote-unquote drug thing is. Benny the Butcher. Brent Smith from Shinedown. We got B-Real from Cypress Hill. NHL enforcer Riley Cote. Marine Corvette. MMA fighter Liz Caramouch. What we're doing now isn't working, and we need to change things. Stories matter, and it brings a face to them. It makes it real.

It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. North said to them, we're going to at least do living wages, paid family leave, and health care for everyone, and guarantee that voting rights are protected. This ought to be the fight. They ought to pass all of this in the Senate right now. Force the House to have to react. They will react in a negative way and not do it, and then run on it and say, give us this power, and we guarantee

you in the first 10 days all of these things will come to pass. $330 billion will be pumped in the economy. 52 million people will be lifted out of poverty to a living wage. Voting rights will happen. 87 million people will no longer be uninsured or underinsured. It's not just saving the damn democracy. It's what kind of democracy is worth saving. That's the issue before us now. And it is serious. It is as serious as anything can be.

And if you don't do this, if you don't address this issue of systemic poverty that's killing people, killing people, you allow despots and wannabe dictators to play in that pain and many times succeed. If you don't believe they can do it, check what Hitler did and how he played among the poor and the dispossessed. Reverend Dr. William Barber, we certainly appreciate it. Thanks a lot. I want to bring in Dr. Chris Metzler, president and CEO of Metzler Enterprises. Chris, you're a conservative, but you see what Donald Trump is doing. What Donald Trump is doing is presenting a fallacy.

He is presenting a populist message that appeals to these white working class, these union workers, and they actually believe he's fighting for them even though he wouldn't let these folks walk through any lobby of one of his hotels. Well, yeah, that's absolutely correct. And in fact, what he is doing is convincing them that he's all in it for them,

when in fact he's all in it for himself. That's the problem. And as a result of that, and given that they really are concerned about the browning of America, this is the perfect storm for them to vote for him. He does not care about them. He doesn't care about anything that happens to them. He wants them to continue giving him money so he can pay his legal fees. And that's pretty much the situation relative to that. They have some sense that Biden is evil, Biden is incompetent and gaffe prone.

They're not looking at the chaos that follows Donald Trump everywhere he goes. The thing here, folks, as you see right now, live shot there, Vice President Kamala Harris with Speaker Mike Johnson. Shortly, he is going to introduce President Biden coming into the chamber. Audio up, please, so I can hear the room and so I can hear when he called for the president. And, Recy, folks, I have to understand what we're talking about here when we talk about this notion, and Reverend Haynes talked about it when he said what people are feeling. You're seeing that, not just in polling numbers. We see it when people call in to our shows and we meet people individually. And what folks have to understand, this is not just saying, oh, these are the great bills that

have been passed by the administration. What people have to understand when we're talking about here is the battle with the couch. If you look at black turnout, black turnout has dropped every year. Obviously, Scott Howard Obama in 2008 dropped in 12, 16, 20. Now you're talking about 24. It was a 50,000 vote drop off in Milwaukee alone between 2018, 2022. If those 50,000 folks vote in Milwaukee, Mandela Barnes is the U.S. Senator from Wisconsin and not MAGA Republican Ron Johnson. And so folk have to understand that what we're laying out is what we are hearing and what needs to be addressed that will keep these folks from picking the couch versus the voting booth. Absolutely. I mean, I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge that a major factor in that is

not just necessarily what people are feeling. It's what we are being targeted with. There is a relentless disinformation and misinformation campaign that has been going on, not just this election cycle, but every single election cycle. Every year it was in the Mueller report about how Russia has used race as a wedge to get black people disaffected. The Trump campaign Republicans engaged in a dissuasion campaign against black people. And so what the Democrats have failed to do is they have failed to counter that with the same zeal that we have been targeted. They failed to implement an information infrastructure in the same way that Republicans have OAN,

they have Fox News, they have whatever the hell Charlie Kirk and Candace Owens are doing, the whole podcast bullshit. They have a whole information infrastructure that paints a reality for their people that keeps them ginned up, enthusiastic, despite the fact that the data tells them that they're better off under Biden than Trump. And until Democrats recognize that aspect of how behind the ball we are on the information, not just messaging, but information, we're going to continue to be playing catch up. And on that piece right there, Jelena, we saw the New York Times story just today that points out

how Russia has created these fake newspapers in the United States, one out of Florida and other parts of the country that's feeding the information. And absolutely, progressives have been absolutely horrible in understanding the broader ecosystem. Too many of them think, oh, we got MSNBC and there's New York Times and NPR. But the reality is more people today are not listening to legacy media. And so they are funding a completely different ecosystem. And that's all people are getting constantly. Black Pack, their poll that came out, showed that more people, more black people said they have gotten negative information about Biden-Harris from TikTok and Instagram and other social media accounts than anything else.

You got to fight fire with fire. And they have to understand this is a part of this war, part of this campaign. Well, absolutely. First of all, psychological warfare is something that the Russians specialize in, as well as the Republicans. And as Recy said, they're doing a very good job at that. Speaking of TikTok, I think I have just a point of personal privilege here. I remember being on the campaign and then being an appointee.

And we were they were very, very strict. They're like, you can't even have the app TikTok on your personal phone. They were like not playing at all. And now, of course, because of what you said, you know, you see the campaign. They're on TikTok. I'm getting the house just passed the bill that that would that that would impact TikTok. But the bottom line is we don't know what's going to happen with the Senate. Yeah, we don't know what's going to happen with the Senate. But at the end of the day, the Biden campaign is saying, hey, we're just meeting the people where they are, whether that's a strategy on them to meet voters and because they know, obviously, what happened in Michigan with those 100,000 votes that were there with the black vote as well. I think they're doing what they need to do, but they need to take it up a notch, several notches.

Reverend Haynes, the thing here also that we also got to deal with that I don't think a lot of black folks want to talk about, let's just be real clear. You do not have the same—y'all, let me know if we can get Cliff Albright back. You do not have the same black political infrastructure today that we had 20, 30 years ago. For instance, the NAACP today is not the NAACP of 20 years ago. That's just a fact. They do not have as many field organizers as they used to. They've gotten older. Folks were not replaced. Also, you're a pastor, we know how strong the church

used to be in terms of that infrastructure. Here's the reality, fewer people are going to church. And so that's a whole different deal. Because of COVID, folks were, people were bedside baptists before, now they absolutely are going to church online. That dynamic has changed. And so we also have to be honest that the black infrastructure that we have had that has been able to hit the doors and get people out to vote is not what it used to be.

That also plays a part in our decreasing numbers. We have got to rebuild that infrastructure. Oh, no question about it. And that goes from our traditional efforts with the black church, as you pointed out, as well as our civil rights organizations that, again, are not in many instances what they used to be. At the same time, there is a youth vote, a young adult vote, a millennial vote that we have not taken advantage of. Roland, I was speaking at a civil rights conference late last year, and some of the data that was shared was that, and it goes to what you said earlier, and that is we have nine and a half million missing black voters still living, but they're missing since 2012. And over half of them, the majority of them live in the suburbs. And so you're talking about

those who are better educated, upwardly mobile, and yet disconnected from the political process. So we don't just lack an information voting infrastructure. We also have a disconnection that has occurred where so many black people now do not feel a part of the process and perhaps have become discouraged and no longer are voting. And so there is a need to rebuild our infrastructure, but we've got to do it with the right data. And a part of that data recognizes that we have black people in the suburbs who are not voting in the majority numbers. And we've got to do a better job with that. Folks, that's First Lady Jill Biden coming into her section there.

There are a number of people who the First Lady invites to sit with her. One of those folks is one of the foot soldiers in Selma who was beaten on this day 59 years ago in Selma on Bloody Sunday. Greg, on that point, a lot of people don't quite understand. Matter of fact, let's go to the House as the Speaker of the House is about to welcome President Obama. Mr. Speaker, the President's Cabinet. This is the President's Cabinet. Greg, real quick, I'm Gen X, and when you look at the breakdown, the further you get away from the civil rights movement, you see more and more black people not self-identify as Democrats. And so now what you're looking at, really from 18 to 49, you're seeing a body of people.

And keep the audio up, please. You're seeing a body of folks who don't self-identify. So, therefore, they look at politics totally different. And part of the problem, the old way of reaching them was the traditional way. You now have to micro-target black people. And so from a spending standpoint, you're going to have to be spending two to three to four times more to reach the same people because the old way of reaching them is gone. Absolutely. And the new one is being built as it moves. I mean, I watch Freddie Haynes and Friendship on Sunday, but that same technology

that allows us to watch from anywhere has created Charlemagne, the damn God and Shea Shea. And what's her name? The Fade creator's girlfriend, boy, whatever her name is, Taylor Swift. Anyway, my point is this. People are looking at celebrities very differently. And you said it. We don't have the infrastructure we had before. And now we are thinking about personalities. That's why tonight, the points Joe Biden scores tonight will be style points.

The campaign starts tonight. If he's lucky, somebody clowns him and he clowns him back. And that's the only thing people remember. But as you said, infrastructure now, micro-targeting, all that's important. But the simple fact of the matter is we're in a completely different environment. And the politics that Reverend Barber is talking about that would absolutely win the Democrats this election is a politics they're not interested in embracing as a brand. Because for some reason, they're still playing like it's 1968 and not 2024. Nola, real quick.

I have a point to make that we are in no way talking about a traditional style anything. We are talking about a political cult of personality. And we don't talk enough about that. How do you engage with someone like a Trump when the people that are supporting him are conditioned to accept everything because they've already told them whatever the other side says, it's just all made up. We are literally engaging with a cult. We are not talking about traditional politicking. And I think that one of the reasons that, you know, it's been complicated to message

is because how do you message against that? Well, first of all, I think Mustafa do you message against that? Well, first of all, I think I think Mustafa you message against that by understanding that One who you're dealing with you're dealing with an absolute liar You're dealing with somebody who won't tell the truth and you have to call it what it is You have to say he's lying and see and part of it when he went when he was elected So many people in the media wouldn't even use the word lie. I was on ABC saying, y'all, can y'all say lie?

It literally took them three years to even say lie. And so the deal is, and I know, look, Michelle. A lot of times the big economic forces we hear about on the news show up in our lives in small ways. Three or four days a week, I would buy two cups of banana pudding, but the price has gone up. So now I only buy one. The demand curve in action. And that's just one of the things we'll be covering on Everybody's Business from Bloomberg Businessweek. I'm Max Chavkin. And I'm Stacey Vanek-Smith. Every Friday, we will be diving into the biggest stories in business,

taking a look at what's going on, why it matters, and how it shows up in our everyday lives. But guests like Businessweek editor Brad Stone, sports reporter Randall Williams, and consumer spending expert Amanda Mull will take you inside the boardrooms, the backrooms, even the signal chats that make our economy tick. Hey, I want to learn about VeChain. I want to buy some blockchain or whatever it is that they're doing. So listen to Everybody's Business on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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

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

you get your podcasts. Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th. Add free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Glott. And this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast.

Yes, sir. We are back. In a big way. In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives. This is kind of star-studded a little bit, man. We got Ricky Williams, NFL player, Heisman Trophy winner. It's just a compassionate choice

to allow players all reasonable means to care for themselves. Music stars Marcus King, John Osborne from Brothers Osborne. We have this misunderstanding of what this quote-unquote drug ban. Benny the Butcher. Brent Smith from Shinedown. Got B-Real from Cypress Hill.

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

Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good abiding by any rules. And I think that's been part of the problem. But Democrats, they're still trying to play according to some rules. Guardrails, yep. One second, Mustafa.

You've got to neck check Trump. And you neck check Trump by pointing out when he's lying about what he did and did not do and what you are doing. And that's the point that folks continue to miss. The other part that we have, which is a problem, is you've got a bunch of people surrounding him who don't come from community. And I continue to remind people about that because they are so disconnected from everyday folks. Nothing wrong with going to Harvard. Nothing wrong going with Yale. I've spent plenty of time with folks from there. Why don't you

surround yourselves with folks who actually come from community? Because if you don't, you don't understand that you should also be investing in the barbershops and the beauty salons and the hookah bars and the folks who are going to the club and there's a way to actually get them registered because we've done it before. But if you don't have

folks who understand that dynamic, then you're missing a big opportunity. Jelena, real quick, then I'll go to Chris. Go. I agree. Just to piggyback on the micro-target messages. For one, I'm just going to say, the way I grew up, I think Democrats are taking this stance on, when you say the L word line, it was like you cussed somebody out.

Like, you couldn't say that word. And they've been, they've told that line. But I just need to bring up this campaign email. Maybe y'all got it tonight. It says, Donald Trump, who you with? Who you with? I don't know if y'all saw this, but I had to go, and they didn't say live, but they said, let's pull up Donald Trump's squad. We have a convicted felon, Roger Stone.

We have a dictator, Victor Orban. We have Marjorie Taylor Greene. But wait, the best part is when you click the link, it takes you to Lil Jon and East Side Boys, who you went. So maybe their messaging is giving, you know, it's giving Gen Z. So, I mean, you know, they're not saying lie, but they're calling out who he's affiliated with. Yeah, you got to say lie. You know? Oh, I see it.

I mean, I see it, right? Chris, here's the whole deal. And, Chris, I know what they're trying to do. They're looking at, well, the folks who supported Nikki Haley. Maybe we can pick off these never Trumpers. Elections are won by locking down your base. And so what they have to understand is Biden tonight must speak to the issues to his base. And then you expand your message from that.

You can't start with saying, let me try to, look, Democrats have been going after that fictitious Reagan Democrat since 1980. Get that shit up. It's gone, okay? I mean, they hardcore Republicans now. They have to understand that there's

a different way, but you have to communicate to your base. And the reality is the base of the Democratic Party is black, especially in Georgia and in North Carolina, in Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania. Chris, hold on a second. President Biden is coming into the House chamber there for this State of the Union speech. Chris, go ahead and answer that question while we watch the president walk in. Well, absolutely. And what Democrats are talking about is, oh, well, maybe we can peel off some of Nikki

Haley's supporters. You're not going to be able to do that in any significant way. At the end of the day, most of those folks are going to support Donald Trump. At some point, you're going to even hear Nikki herself endorsing Donald Trump. So I think that what happens is Republicans tend to play to the base. That base has been told what to do. They've been told what to expect. And that's it. They accept the lies. They accept all of that kind of stuff because that is the base. This is not your father's Republican Party. This is Donald Trump's Republican Party. And until Democrats get that, it's a losing proposition.

What you also are dealing with here, I dare say, when we talk about voting, Erica, here's what Trump is looking for. He's thanked black people in 2016 for not voting. They are banking on us not turning out. They're banking on dissatisfied Democrats not turning out. That's one of the reasons why I've said the Democrats get to hell over the fact that he's 81. He's running, okay? He's a nominee.

Y'all need to stop acting like he gonna drop Kamala Harris. That ain't happening because you are guaranteed to lose if you try that. And so you gotta accept what you're dealing with. Mitch McConnell this week endorsed Trump when this man talked about his wife like a dog. Use racist language talking about his wife. If any Democrat out there who's straddling like, I don't know if I'm down with Biden, I'm like, fool, they have gotten in line because they desire power. And that has been echoed on this show over and over again.

And we have to always think about, too, that Trump is not that far from Biden in age. So the point of the matter is, is really, you know, the choice is do you want to join the Klan or not? Because Donald John Trump is the son of a Klansman. The activities that we see, the way that he is pandering to black men, thinking that

black men are very drawn to sneakers and slick language and that'll get the vote. He has told and messaged and been very explicit in who he is. And not only that, he's going to be meeting with the dictator of Hungary on tomorrow. You're talking about somebody who essentially took the time to dismantle institutions to make sure that the democracy was unstable. We heard Steve Bannon say the same thing in 2017, right across the bridge

in Maryland, talking about deconstructing the administrative state. So when we think about all of these things, when we think about who he is, what he stands for, and the 70 plus million people that are paying his legal fees, that will vote for him in a heartbeat, the youth that he has activated to his platform. We have to absolutely engage voters in a way that we see that Republicans do, which is you start from the cradle and you follow them to the grave. Listen, President Biden's age, though, it's a sore subject for a lot of people. I've talked to young people. I've talked to people my age. I've talked to people my grand. A lot of times the big economic forces we hear about on the news show up in our lives in small ways. Three or four days a week, I would buy two cups of banana pudding.

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

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

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

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

And this is season 2 of the War on Drugs podcast. Yes, sir. We are back. In a big way. In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives. This is kind of star-studded a little bit, man. We got Ricky Williams, NFL player, Heisman Tman trophy winner it's just a compassionate choice to allow players all reasonable means to care for themselves music stars marcus king john osborne from brothers osborne we have this misunderstanding of what this quote-unquote drug fans. Benny the Butcher. Brent Smith from Shinedown.

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

It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. Parents age, and outside of that, I think tonight people should look at his physicality because we know as communicators it's not just what you say it's how you say it and how you present

people want to know like we said that he's competent that he's he's strong he's coming off with candor he's coming off where believable right he's coming off as like hey this is like what do they say 80 is the new 40 i think the folks were saying i feel like the white thing you know they were saying it. But if it is, then that means I'm forever 25. So there we go. But I think that's going to be an important element tonight. So we have to see how he actually looks and presents

when he's speaking. Look, first of all, if you're 81, if you're 81, you're 81. You've got to accept who you are. I think, yeah, you damn right. I wouldn't have been talking to Manchin's

trash. Here's my whole deal with how you need to embrace that. He still needs to be, yeah, I'm 81, and guess what? I beat his ass in 2020. And guess what? We beat y'all in 2020. And guess what?

We beat y'all in 2022. And by the way, we passed this, this, this, this. See, I keep saying. Why won't he do that? To be fair, he just started doing that. Did he? He just started messaging. Very recently.

Roosevelt was in a wheelchair. He could sell them. I said, again, I go back to 1984, 1988. Reverend Jackson says, I would rather have FDR in a wheelchair than Reagan on a horse. And what he's got to say

is, hey, you know what? You can have a 50 or 55 year old who's president, who's jogging, who's running around, who can't get nothing paid. Or a 77-year-old whose brain is melting. You have to lean into your knowledge. I remember I was at the University of Oklahoma, and I was lecturing, and I was talking about media. And this was 20 years ago. And so the students were looking at me then,

because I'm 35 then, and they're like, well, you know, you saying all this stuff here, ain't you afraid that sharing knowledge that we're going to be better than you? I said, let me help y'all out. Y'all ain't going to never be better than me. I said, because one, you got to catch up to where I am right now. I said, because one, you got to catch up to where I am right now.

I said, and I ain't stopped studying, so I'm going to be ahead of you when you get to this point. This is where he has to, for me, lean in on wisdom, knowledge, experience. The reason he was picked,

everybody forget this, the reason he was picked in 2020 because folks said that's the person who has the wisdom and experience to beat him. I keep reminding people Klobuchar, Buttigieg,

Harris, Booker, Sanders, Bloomberg, Tulsi, I know I'm leaving offVING OFF SOME DEVAL PATRICK. IT WAS ABOUT 12, 14 PEOPLE WHO WERE RUNNING. HE WAS. BUT DON'T FORGET THAT. BUT THEY ALL LOST.

BUT WHEN BIDEN WON, HE FOLDED IN THE PROGRESSIVE AGENDA TO THE POINT WHERE THIS IS THE MOST PROGRESSIVE DEMOCRATIC AGENDA SINCE JIMMY CARTER. AND HE CAN'T BE AFRAID OF THE PEOPLE. HE CANNOT BE AFRAID OF THE PEOPLE. HE CAN'T BE AFRAID OF THE PEOPLE. He folded in the progressive agenda to the point where this is the most progressive Democratic agenda since Jimmy Carter.

And he can't be afraid of the people. He cannot be afraid. Now, I know it's about seniority, but you see Katonji Brown Jackson standing up next to Anthony Kennedy in the back. I guess it's about seniority. You see who's not there. Alito and what's Jenny Thompson's boy toy? Well, first of all, Tom. Right.

Yeah. But what I'm saying is, the ideologues are clear. Your point has to be the point they embrace. I mean, here's Marjorie Taylor Greene looking like she came straight out of Vince McMahon finishing school with that silly hat on and that T-shirt.

These white nastas are playing for keeps. Joe Biden could win this election. He could go a long way toward winning this election tonight. Now, I'm not a foreign power. I'm not standing up for these Negroes like the Secretary of Defense or the Chief of Staff, but you got these black men fronting

the United States military. He's not going to talk about race tonight. They are still trapped. Bernie Sanders is as left as he's ever going to get. When he beat Bernie Sanders, he absorbed Sanders' stuff. Wait a minute, so military, you trapped Greg? Hold on.

Completely trapped. The Democrats and Republicans, no, you know they are. They are the absolute same. You know they are. Let's go to the House of Representatives for President Biden. We'll talk about that. Thank you. Good evening. Good evening. Good evening. If I were smart, I'd go home now.

Mr. Speaker, Madam Vice President, members of Congress, my fellow Americans, in January 1941, Franklin Roosevelt came to this chamber to speak to the nation, and he said, I address you at a moment unprecedented in the history of the Union. Hitler was on the march. War was raging in Europe. President Roosevelt's purpose was to wake up Congress and alert the American people that this was no ordinary time. Freedom and democracy were under assault in the world.

Tonight, I come to this same chamber to address the nation. Now, it's we who face unprecedented moment in the history of the Union. And yes, my purpose tonight is to wake up the Congress and alert the American people that this is no ordinary moment either. Not since President Lincoln and the Civil War have freedom and democracy been under assault at home as they are today. What makes our moment rare is that freedom and democracy are under attack both at home and overseas at the very same time. Overseas, Putin of Russia is on the march, invading Ukraine and sowing chaos throughout Europe and beyond. If anybody in this room thinks Putin will stop at Ukraine, I assure you he will not. But Ukraine — Ukraine can stop Putin.

Ukraine can stop Putin if we stand with Ukraine and provide the weapons that that needs to defend itself. That is all. That is all Ukraine is asking. They're not asking for American soldiers. In fact, there are no American soldiers in the war in Ukraine, and I'm determined to keep it that way. But now, assistance to Ukraine is being blocked by those who want to walk away from our world leadership. It wasn't long ago when a Republican president named Ronald Reagan thundered, Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall. Now, my predecessor, a former Republican president, tells Putin, quote,

do whatever the hell you want. That's a quote. A former president actually said that bowing down to a Russian leader. I think it's outrageous. It's dangerous and it's unacceptable. America is a founding member of NATO, the military alliance of democratic nations created after World War II to prevent war and keep the peace. And today, we've made NATO stronger than ever. We welcomed Finland to the Alliance last year. And just this morning, Sweden officially joined and their minister

is here tonight. So stand up. Welcome. Welcome, welcome, welcome welcome and they know how to fight mr. prime minister welcome to NATO the strongest military alliance the world has ever seen I say this to Congress, we have to stand up to Putin. Send me a bipartisan national security bill. History is literally watching. History is watching. If the United States walks away, it will put Ukraine at risk. Europe is at risk.

The free world will be at risk, emboldening others to do what they wish to do us harm. My message to President Putin, who I've known for a long time, is simple. We will not walk away. We will not bow down. I will not bow down. In a literal sense, history is watching. History is watching. Just like history watched three years ago on January 6th

when insurrectionists stormed this very capital and placed the dagger at the throat of American democracy. Many of you are here on that darkest of days. We all saw with our own eyes the insurrectionists were not patriots. They'd come to stop the peaceful transfer of power to overturn the will of the people. January 6th lies about the 2020 election and the plots that steal the election posed a great gravest threat to US democracy since the Civil War. But they failed. America stood strong and democracy prevailed. We must be honest.

The threat to democracy must be defended. My predecessor and some of you here seek to bury the truth about January 6th. I will not do that. This is the moment to speak the truth and to bury the truth about January 6th. I will not do that. This is the moment to speak the truth and to bury the lies. Here's the simple truth. You can't love your country only when you win. Thank you. As I've done ever since being elected to office, I ask all of you, without regard to party,

to join together and defend democracy. Remember your oath of office is to defend against all threats, foreign and domestic. Respect — respect free and fair elections. Restore trust in our institutions. And make clear political violence has absolutely no place — no place in America. Zero place. Again, it's not hyperbole to suggest history is watching. We're watching. Your children and grandchildren will read about this day and what we do. History is watching another assault on freedom. Joining us tonight is Latoya Beasley, a social worker from Birmingham, Alabama.

Fourteen months ago, she and her husband welcomed a baby girl thanks to the miracle of IVF. She scheduled treatments to have that second child, but the Alabama Supreme Court shut down IVF treatments across the state, unleashed by a Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade. She was told her dream would have to wait, but her family that got through should never have happened unless Congress acts, it could happen again. So tonight, let's stand up for families like hers. To my friends across Seattle, don't keep this waiting any longer.

Guarantee the right to ABF. Guarantee the right to ABF. Guarantee it nationwide. Like most Americans, I believe Roe v. Wade got it right. I thank Vice President Harris for being an incredible leader defending reproductive freedom. My predecessor came to office determined to see Roe v. Wade overturned. He's the reason it was overturned, and he brags about it. Look at the chaos that has resulted.

Joining us tonight is Kate Cox, a wife and mother from Dallas. She's become pregnant again and had a fetus of a fatal condition. Her doctor told Kate that her own life and her ability to have children in the future were at risk if she didn't act. Because Texas law banned her ability to act, Kate and her husband had to leave the state to get what she needed. What her family got through should have never happened as well, but it's happening in too many others. There are state laws banning the freedom to choose, criminalizing doctors,

forcing survivors of rape and incest to leave their states to get the treatment they need. Many of you in this chamber and my predecessor are promising to pass a national ban on reproductive freedom. My God, what freedom else would you take away? Look, it's a decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. The Supreme Court majority wrote the following, and with all due respect, justices, women are not without electoral power. A lot of times the big economic forces we hear about on the news show up in our lives in small

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

So listen to Everybody's Business on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops called this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser told them. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multi-billion dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission.

This is Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated, on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st, and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th. Ad And this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast.

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

Music stars Marcus King, John Osborne from Brothers Osborne. We have this misunderstanding of what this quote-unquote drug thing is. Benny the Butcher. Brent Smith from Shinedown. Got B-Real from Cypress Hill. NHL enforcer Riley Cote. Marine Corvette. MMA fighter Liz Caramouch.

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

subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. Excuse me, electoral or political power. You're about to realize just how much you get right. Clearly. Clearly. Those bragging about overturning the road. Wade have no clue about the power of women. But they found out when reproductive freedom was on the ballot. We won in 2022 and 2020,, I'll restore Roe v. Wade as the law of the land again. Folks, America cannot go back. I'm here tonight to show what I believe in the way forward, because I know how far we've come.

Four years ago next week, before I came to office, the country was hit by the worst pandemic and the worst economic crisis in a century. Remember the fear, record losses. Remember the spikes in crime and the murder rate raging virus that took more than one million American lives of loved ones, millions left behind. A mental health crisis of isolation and loneliness. A president, my predecessor, failed the most basic presidential duty that he owes to American people, the duty to care. I think that's unforgivable. I came to office determined to get us through one of the toughest periods in the nation's history.

We have. It doesn't make news, but in a thousand cities and towns. The American people are writing the greatest comeback story never told. So let's tell the story here. Tell it here and now. America's comeback is building the future of American possibilities, building an economy from the middle out and the bottom up, not the top down, investing in all America, in all Americans, to make sure everyone has a fair shot and we leave no one, no one behind.

The pandemic no longer controls our lives. The vaccines that saved us from COVID are now being used to beat cancer, turning setback into comeback. That's what America does. That's what America does. Folks, our inherited economy is on the brink. Now our economy is literally the envy of the world. Fifteen million new jobs in just three years. A record. A record. Unemployment at 50-year lows.

A record 16 million Americans are starting small businesses, and each one is a literal act of hope, with historic job growth and small business growth for Black and Hispanics and Asian Americans, 800,000 new manufacturing jobs in America, and counting. Where is it written we can't be the manufacturing capital of the world? We are and we will. More people have health insurance today. More people have health insurance today than ever before. The racial wealth gap is as small as it's been in 20 years.

Wages keep going up. Inflation keeps coming down. Inflation has dropped from 9% to 3%, the lowest in the world and tending lower. The landing is and will be soft. And now, instead of importing foreign products and exporting American jobs, we're exporting American products and creating American jobs right here in America where they belong. And it takes time but the American people are beginning to feel it. Consumer studies show consumer confidence is soaring. Buy America has been the law of the land since the 1930s. Past administrations, including my predecessor, including some Democrats as well in the past,

failed to buy American. Not anymore. On my watch, federal projects that you fund, like helping build American roads, bridges, and highways, will be made with American products and built by American workers, creating good-paying American jobs. And thanks to our CHIPS and Science Act, the United States is investing more in research and development than ever before. During the pandemic, a shortage of semiconductors, chips that drove up the price of everything from cell phones to automobiles.

And by the way, we invented those chips right here in America. Well, instead of having to import them, private companies are now investing billions of dollars to build new chip factories here in America, creating tens of thousands of jobs, many of those jobs paying $100,000 a year and don't require a college degree. In fact, my policies have attracted $650 billion in private sector investment, in clean energy, advanced manufacturing, creating tens of thousands of jobs here in America. And thanks to our bipartisan infrastructure law, 46,000 new projects have been announced all across your communities. And by the way, I noticed some of you have strongly voted against it or they're cheering on that money coming in.

I like it. I'm with you. I'm with you. I'm with you. If any of you don't want that money in your district, just let me know. Modernizing our roads and bridges, ports and airports, public transit systems. Removing poisonous lead pipes so every child can drink clean water without risk of brain damage. Providing affordable, affordable high-speed internet for every American no matter where you live, urban, suburban, or rural communities in red states and blue states. Record investments in tribal communities because of of my investment in the family farms...

Because I invested in the family farms led by my secretary of agriculture, who knows more about this than anybody I know, we're better able to stay in the family for those farms, and their children and grandchildren won't have to leave home to make a living. It's transformative. The great comeback story is Belvedere, Illinois, home to an auto plant for nearly 60 years. Before I came to office,

the plant was on its way to shutting down. Thousands of workers feared for their livelihoods. Hope was fading. Then I was elected to office, and we raised the Belvedere repeatedly with auto companies, knowing unions would make all the difference. The UAW worked like hell to keep the plant open and get these jobs back. And together we succeeded.

Instead of auto factories shutting down, auto factories reopening. A lot of times the big economic forces we hear about on the news show up in our lives in small ways. Three or four days a week, I would buy two cups of banana pudding, but the price has gone up. So now I only buy one. The demand curve in action. And that's just one of the things we'll be covering on Everybody's Business from Bloomberg Businessweek. I'm Max Chavkin. And I'm Stacey Vanek-Smith. Every Friday, we will be diving into the biggest stories in business,

taking a look at what's going on, why it matters, and how it shows up in our everyday lives. But guests like Businessweek editor Brad Stone, sports reporter Randall Williams, and consumer spending expert Amanda Mull will take you inside the boardrooms, the backrooms, even the signal chats that make our economy tick. Hey, I want to learn about VeChain.

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

and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multi-billion dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season 1.

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

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

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

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

It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. factories being built to power those cars there at the same time. Folks, the folks of Belvedere, I say, instead of your town being left behind, your community is moving forward again. Because instead watching all those jobs of the future go overseas,

4,000 union jobs with higher wages are building the future in Belvedere right here in America. Here tonight is UAW President Sean Fain, a great friend and a great labor leader. Sean, where are you? Stand up. And Dawn Sims, a third generation worker, UAW worker at Belvedere. Sean, I was proud to be the first president to stand on the picket line. And today, Dawn has a good job in her hometown, providing stability for her family and pride and dignity as well. Showing once again, Wall Street didn't build America.

They're not bad guys. They didn't build it, though. The middle middle class built the country and unions built the middle class I say to the American people when when America gets knocked down, we get back up. We keep going. That's America. That's you, the American people. It's because of you America's coming back. It's because of you our future is brighter.

It's because of you that tonight we can. It's because of you our future is brighter. It's because of you that tonight we can proudly say the state of our union is strong and getting stronger. Go Georgia! Go Georgia! Go Georgia! Tonight, I want to talk about the future of possibilities that we can build together. A future where the days of trickle-down economics are over and the wealthy and the biggest corporations no longer get to allow the tax breaks. And, by the way, I understand corporations. I come from a state that has more corporations invested than every one of your states in the United States combined.

And I represented it for 36 years. I'm not anti-corporation. But I grew up in a home where trickle-down economics didn't put much on my dad's kitchen table. That's why I determined to turn things around so middle class does well. When they do well, the poor of a way up and the wealthy still do very well. We all do well. And there's more to do to make sure you're feeling the benefits of all we're doing. Americans pay more for prescription drugs than anywhere in the world. It's wrong and I'm ending it.

With a law that I proposed and signed, not one of you Republican buddies worked voted for it. We finally beat Big Pharma. Instead of paying $400 a month or thereabouts for insulin with diabetes, it only costs 10 bucks to make. They only get paid 35 a month now and still make healthy profit. And I want to, but what to do next? I want to cap the cost of insulin $35 a month for every American in Egypt, everyone.

For years, people have talked about it, but finally we got it done, gave Medicare the power to negotiate lower prices on prescription drugs, just like the VA is able to do for veterans. That's not just saving seniors money. It's saving taxpayers money. We cut the federal deficit by $160 billion. Because Medicare will no longer have to pay those exorbitant prices to Big Pharma. This year, Medicare is negotiating lower prices for some of the costliest drugs on the market

that treat everything from heart disease to arthritis. It's now time to go further and give Medicare the power to negotiate lower prices for 500 different drugs over the next decade. We're making a lot of money, guys. And they'll still be extremely profitable. It'll not only save lives, it will save taxpayers another $200 billion. Starting next year, the same law caps total prescription drug costs for seniors on Medicare at $2,000 a year, even for expensive cancer drugs that cost $10,000, $12,000, $15,000.

I want to cap prescription drug costs at $2,000 a year for everyone. Folks, I'm going to get in trouble for saying that, but if you want to get in the Air Force, fly to Toronto, Berlin, Moscow, I mean, excuse me, and well, even Moscow, probably. And bring your prescription with you, and I promise you, I'll get it for you for 40% the cost you're paying now. Same company, same drug, same place. Folks, the Affordable Care Act, the old Obamacare, is still a very big deal. Over 100 million of you can no longer be denied health insurance because of pre-existing condition. But my predecessor and many in this chamber want to take this prescription drug away by repealing Affordable Care Act.

I'm not going to let that happen. We stopped you 50 times before and we'll stop you again. In fact, I'm not only protecting it, I'm expanding it. We enacted tax credits of $800 per person per year to reduce health care costs for millions of working families. That tax credit expires next year. I want to make that savings permanent. To state the obvious, women are more than half our population, but research on women's health has always been underfunded. That's why we're launching the first-ever White House initiative on women's health research, led by Jill, doing an incredible job as First Lady.

To pass my plan for $12 billion to transfer women's health research and benefit millions of lives all across America. I know the cost of housing is so important to you. If inflation keeps coming down, mortgage rates will come down as well, and the Fed acknowledges that. But I'm not waiting. I want to provide an annual tax credit that will give Americans $400 a month for the next two years as mortgage rates come down to put toward their mortgages when they buy their first home or trade up for a little more space. Just for two years. And my administration is also eliminating title insurance on federally backed mortgages. When you refinance your home, you can save $1,000 or more as a consequence.

For millions of renters, we're cracking down on big landlords who use antitrust law — using antitrust — who break antitrust laws by price-fixing and driving up rents. We've cut red tape so builders can get federally financing, which is already helping build a record 1.7 million new housing units nationwide. Now pass. Now pass and build and renovate 2 million affordable homes and bring those rents down. To remain the strongest economy in the world, we need to have the best education system in the world. And I, like I suspect all of you, want to give a child, every child, a good start by

providing access to preschool for three and four years old. You know, I think I pointed out last year. I think I pointed out last year that children coming from broken homes where there's no books, they're not read to, not spoken to very often, start school, kindergarten or first grade, hearing, having heard a million fewer words spoken. Well studies show that children who go to preschool are nearly 50% more likely to finish high school, go on to earn a two and four year degree no matter what their background is. I met a year and a half ago with the leaders of the Business Roundtable. They were mad that I — they were angry.

I said, well, they were discussing why I wanted to spend money on education. I pointed out to them, as vice president, I met with over eight, I think it was 182 of those folks. Don't hold me to the exact number. And I asked them what they need most, the CEOs. And you've had the same experience on both sides of the aisle. They say a better educated workforce, right? So I looked at them and I say, I come from Delaware. DuPont used to be the eighth largest corporation in the world. And every new enterprise they bought, they educated the workforce to that enterprise. But none of you do that anymore.

Why are you angry? A lot of times the big economic forces we hear about on the news show up in our lives in small ways. Three or four days a week, I would buy two cups of banana pudding, but the price has gone up. So now I only buy one. The demand curve in action. And that's just one of the things we'll be covering on Everybody's Business from Bloomberg Businessweek.

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

I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops call this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser told them. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened

when a multi-billion dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season 1. Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated, on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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

In a big way. In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives. This is kind of star-studded a little bit, man. We got Ricky Williams, NFL player,

Heisman Trophy winner. It's just a compassionate choice to allow players all reasonable means to care for themselves. Music stars Marcus King, John Osborne from Brothers Osborne. We have this misunderstanding of what this quote-unquote drug ban is. Benny the Butcher. Brent Smith from Shinedown. We got B-Real from Cypress Hill. NHL enforcer Riley Cote.

Marine Corvette. MMA fighter Liz Caramouch. What we're doing now isn't working, and we need to change things. Stories matter, and it brings a face to them. It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two

on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. With me providing you the opportunity for the best educated workforce in the world. And they all looked at me and said, I think you're right. I want to expand high quality tutoring and summer learning to see that every child learns to read by third grade. I'm also connecting local businesses and high schools so students get hands-on experience and a path to a good-paying job, whether or not they go to college. And I want to make sure the college is more affordable.

Let's continue increasing the Pell Grants to working and middle-class families and increase record investments in HBCUs and minority-serving institutions, including Hispanic institutions. When I was told I couldn't universally just change the way in which we dealt with student loans, I fixed two student loan programs that already existed to reduce the burden of student debt for nearly 4 million Americans, including nurses, firefighters,

and others in public service. Like Kenan Jones, a public educator from Minnesota, who's here with us tonight. Kenan, where are you? Kenan, thank you. He's educated hundreds of students so they can go to college. Now he's able to help, after debt forgiveness, get his own daughter to college. And, folks, look, such relief is good for the economy because folks are now able to buy a home, start a business, start a family. While we're at it, we cut the deficit.

Now, let me speak to the question of fundamental fairness for all Americans. I've been delivering real results in fiscally responsible ways. We've already cut the federal deficit. We've already cut the federal deficit. We've already cut the federal deficit of over a trillion dollars. I signed the bipartisan deal to cut another trillion dollars in the next decade. It's my goal to cut the federal deficit of another three trillion by making big corporations very wealthy finally beginning to pay their fair share. Look, I'm a capitalist. If you want to make or can make a million or millions of bucks, that's great. Just pay your fair share in taxes. A fair tax code is how we invest things to make this country great. Healthcare, education, defense, and so much more.

But here's the deal. The last administration enacted a $2 trillion tax cut, overwhelmingly benefited the top in 1%, the very wealthy, the biggest corporation, and exploded the federal deficit. They added more to the national debt than any presidential term in American history. Check the numbers. Folks at home, does anybody really think the tax code is fair? Do you really think the wealthy and big corporations need another No! THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES,

THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, THE PRESIDENT OF not one penny. And they haven't yet. In fact, the child tax credit I passed during the pandemic cut taxes for millions of working families and cut child poverty in half. Restore that

child tax credit. No child should go hungry in this country. The way to make the tax code fair is to make big corporations and the very wealthy begin to pay their fair share. Remember in 2020, 55 of the biggest companies in America made $40 billion and paid zero in federal income tax. Zero. Not anymore. Thanks to the law I wrote and we signed, big companies have to pay a minimum of 15%. But that's still less than working people paying federal taxes.

It's time to raise corporate minimum tax to at least 21%. So every big corporation finally begins to pay their fair share. I also want to end tax breaks for big pharma, big oil, private checks, massive executive pay when it's only supposed to be a million dollars that could be deducted. They can pay them 20 million if they want, but deduct a million. End it now. You know, there are 1,000 billionaires in America. They can pay him $20 million if they want, but deduct a million. End it now. You know, there are 1,000 billionaires in America. You know what the average federal tax is for those billionaires?

No. They're making great sacrifices, 8.2%. That's far less than the vast majority of Americans pay. No billionaire should pay a lower federal tax rate than a teacher, a sanitation worker, or a nurse. I propose a minimum tax for billionaires of 25 percent. Just 25 percent. You know what that would raise? A minimum tax for billionaires of 25%, just 25%. You know what that would raise? That would raise $500 billion over the next 10 years.

And imagine what that could do for America. Imagine a future with affordable child care. Millions of families can get what they need to go to work to help grow the economy. Imagine a future with paid leave, because no one should have to choose between working and taking care of their sick family member. Imagine. Imagine a future of home care and elder care and people living with disabilities so they can stay in their homes and family caregivers can finally get the pay they deserve. Tonight, let's all agree once again to stand up for seniors.

Many of my friends on the other side of the aisle want to put Social Security on the chopping block. If anyone here tries to cut Social Security and Medicare or raise the retirement age, I will stop you. The working people, the working people who built this country pay more into Social Security than millionaires and billionaires do. It's not fair. We have two ways to go.

Republicans can cut Social Security and give more tax breaks to the wealthy. I will. That's the proposal. Oh, no. You guys don't want another two trillion dollar tax cut. I kind of thought that's what your plan was. Well, that's good to hear. You're not going to cut another two trillion dollars for the super wealth. That's good to hear. You're not going to cut another $2 trillion for the super wealth. That's good to hear. I'll protect and strengthen Social Security and make the wealthy pay their fair share.

Look, too many corporations raise prices to pad their profits, charging more and more for less and less. That's why we're cracking down on corporations that engage in price gouging and deceptive pricing from food to healthcare to housing. In fact, the snack companies think you won't notice if they change the size of the bag and put a hell of a lot fewer — — same size bag, put fewer chips in it. No, I'm not joking. It's called shrink-flacing.

Pass Bobby Casey's bill and stop this. I really mean it. You probably all saw that commercial on Snickers bars. You get to charge the same amount, and you got about, I don't know, 10% fewer Snickers in it. Look, I'm also getting rid of junk fees. Those hidden fees at the end of your bill that are there without your knowledge. My administration announced we're cutting credit card late fees from $32 to $8. Banks and credit card companies are allowed to charge what it costs them to

instigate the collection and that's more hell of a lot like eight dollars and thirty some dollars. They don't like it. Credit card companies don't like it. But I'm saving American families twenty billion dollars a year with all the junk fees I'm eliminating. Folks at home, that's why the banks are so mad, is $20 billion in profit. I'm not stopping there. My administration has proposed rules to make cable, travel, utilities, and online ticket sellers. Tell you the total price up front so there are no surprises. It matters. It matters. And so does this. In November, my team began serious negotiation

with a bipartisan group of senators. The result was a bipartisan bill with the toughest set of border security reforms we've ever seen. Oh, you don't think so? Oh, you don't like that bill, huh? That conservatives got together and said it was a good bill? I'll be darned. That's amazing. That bipartisan bill would hire 1,500 more security agents and officers,

100 more immigration judges to help tackle the backload of two-minute cases, 4,300 more asylum officers and new policies so they can resolve cases in six months instead of six years now. What are you against? 100 more high-tech drug detection machines to significantly increase the ability to screen and stop vehicles smuggling fentanyl into America. That's killing thousands of children. This bill would save lives and bring order to the border. It will also give me and any new president new emergency authority to temporarily shut down the border when the number of migrants at the border is overwhelming. The Border Patrol Union has

endorsed this bill. The Federal Chamber of Commerce is in- yeah, yeah. You're saying low. Look at the facts. I know... I know you know how to read. I believe that given... A lot of times the big economic forces we hear about on the news show up in our lives in small ways. Three or four days a week, I would buy two cups of banana pudding. But the price has gone up, so now I only buy one. The demand curve in action. And that's just one of the things we'll be covering on Everybody's Business from Bloomberg Businessweek.

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

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

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

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

I'm Greg Glod. And this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast. Yes, sir. We are back. In a big way. In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives. This is kind of star-studded a little bit, man. We got Ricky Williams, NFL player, Heisman Trophy winner.

It's just a compassionate choice to allow players all reasonable means to care for themselves. Music stars Marcus King, John Osborne from Brothers Osborne. We have this misunderstanding of what this quote-unquote drug thing is.

Benny the Butcher. Brent Smith from Shinedown. We got B-Real from Cypress Hill. NHL enforcer Riley Cote. Marine Corvette. MMA fighter Liz Karamush. What we're doing now isn't working and we need to change things. Stories matter and it brings a face to them. It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app,

Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. The opportunity for a majority in the House and Senate would endorse the bill as well, the majority right now. But unfortunately, politics has derailed this bill so far. I'm told my predecessor called members of Congress in the Senate to demand they block the bill. He feels political win, he viewed

it as a political win for me and a political loser for him. It's not about him. It's not about me. I'd be a winner. Not really. I... Lincoln... Lincoln Riley, an innocent young woman who was killed by an illegal. That's right. But how many of thousands of people being killed by legal? To her parents, I say my heart goes out to you having lost children myself.

I understand. But look, if we change the dynamic at the border, people pay people. People pay these smugglers 8,000 bucks to get across the border because they know if they get by, if they get by and let into the country, it's six to eight years before they have a hearing. And it's worth taking the chance of the 8,000. But if it's only six weeks,

the idea is it's highly unlikely that people will pay that money and come all that way knowing that they'll be able to be kicked out quickly. Folks, I would respectfully suggest my Republican friends owe it to the American people. Get this bill done. We need to act now. And if my predecessor is watching, instead of paying politics and pressuring members of Congress to block the bill, join me in telling the Congress to pass it. We can do it together, but that's what he apparently hears what he will not do. I will not demonize. I will not ban people because of their faith. Unlike my predecessor on my first day in office, I introduced a comprehensive bill to fix our

immigration system. Take a look at it as all these and more. Secure the border. Provide a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers and so much more. But unlike my predecessor, I know who we are as Americans. We're the only nation in the world with a heart and soul that draws from old and new. Home to Native Americans whose ancestors have been here for thousands of years. home to people from every place on Earth. They came freely. Some came in chains. Some came when famine struck, like my ancestral family in Ireland.

Some to flee persecution, to chase dreams that are impossible anywhere but here in America. That's America. And we all come from somewhere, but we're all Americans. Look folks, we have a simple choice. We can fight about fixing the border or we can fix it. I'm ready to fix it. Send me the border bill now. A transformational moment in history happened 58, 59 years ago today in Selma, Alabama. Hundreds of foot soldiers for justice marched across the Edmund Pettus Bridge, named after the grand dragon of the Ku Klux Klan, to claim their fundamental right to vote. They were beaten. They were bloody and left for dead.

Our late friend and former colleague John Lewis was on that march. We miss him. But joining us tonight are other marchers, both in the gallery and on the floor, including Betty Mae Fikes, known as the voice of Selma, the daughter of gospel singers and preachers, she sang songs of prayer and protest on that bloody Sunday to help shake the nation's conscience. Five months later, the Voting Rights Act passed and was signed into law. Thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you. But 59 years later, there are forces taking us back in time. Voter suppression, election subversion, unlimited dark money, extreme gerrymandering.

John Lewis is a great friend to many of us here, but if you truly want to honor him and all the heroes that marched with him, then it's time to do more than talk. Pass the Freedom to Vote Act, the John Lewis Voting Rights Act. And stop, stop denying another core value of America, our diversity across American life. Banning books, it's wrong. Instead of erasing history, let's make history. I want to protect fundamental rights. Pass the Equality Act. And my message to transgender Americans, I have your back. Pass the PRO Act for workers'

rights. Raise the federal minimum wage because every worker has a right to a decent living more than seven bucks an hour. We're also making history by confronting the climate crisis, not denying it. I don't think any of you think there's no longer a climate crisis. At least I hope you don't. I'm taking the most significant action ever on climate in the history of the world. I'm cutting our carbon emissions in half by 2030, creating tens of thousands of clean energy jobs like the IBEW workers building and installing 500,000 electric vehicle charging stations. Conserving 30 percent of America's lands and waters

by 2030. And taking action on environmental justice fence-line communities smothered by the legacy of pollution. And patterned after the Peace Corps and America Corps, I launched the Climate Corps to put 20,000 young people to work in the forefront of our clean energy future. I'll triple that number in a decade. To state the obvious, all Americans deserve the freedom to be safe, and America is safer

today than when I took office. Year before I took office, murder rates went up 30 percent. Thirty percent they went up. The biggest increase in history. It was then, through my American Rescue Plan, which every American voted against I'm mad at, we made the largest investment in public safety ever. Last year, the murder rate saw the stoppage decrease in history. Violent crime fell to one of the lowest levels in more than 50 years. But we have more to do.

We have to help cities invest in more community police officers, more mental health workers, more community violence intervention. Give communities the tool to crack down on gun crime, retail crime, and carjacking. Keep building trust, as I've been doing by taking executive action on police reform and calling for it to be the law of the land. Directing my cabinet to review the federal classification of marijuana and expunging thousands of convictions for the mere possession, because no one should be jailed for simply using or having it on their record. Take on crimes of domestic violence. I'm ramping up the federal enforcement of the Violence Against Women Act that I proudly

wrote when I was a senator so we can finally, finally end the scourge against women in America. There are other kinds of violence I want to stop. With us tonight is Jasmine, whose 9-year-old sister Jackie was murdered with 21 classmates and teachers in an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas. Very soon after that happened, Jill and I went to Uvalde for a couple of days.

We spent hours and hours with each of the families. We heard their message. So everyone in this room, in this chamber, could hear the same message. The constant refrain, and I was there for hours, meeting with every family. They said, do something. Do something.

Well, I did do something by establishing the first-ever Office of Gun Violence Prevention in the White House. But the Vice President is leading the charge. Thank you for doing it. Meanwhile. Meanwhile. Meanwhile, my predecessor told the NRA he's proud he did nothing on guns when he was president. After another shooting in Iowa recently, he said, when asked what to do about it, he said, just get over it.

There is his quote, just get over it. I say stop it. Stop it, stop it, stop it. I'm proud we beat the NRA when I signed the most significant gun safety law in nearly 30 years because of this Congress. We now must beat the NRA again. I'm demanding a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. Pass universal background checks.

None of this. None of this. I taught the Second Amendment for 12 years. None of this violates the Second Amendment or vilifies responsible gun owners. You know, as we manage challenges at home, we're also managing crisis abroad, including in the Middle East. I know the last five months have been gut-wrenching for so many people, for the Israeli people, for the Palestinian people, and so many here in America. This crisis began on October 7th with a massacre by a terrorist group called Hamas, as you all know. 1,200 innocent people, women and girls, men and boys, slaughtered after enduring sexual violence.

The deadliest day for the Jewish people since the Holocaust, and 250 hostages taken. Here in this chamber tonight are families whose loved ones are still being held by Hamas. I pledge to all the families that we will not rest until we bring every one of your loved ones home. We also... We will also work around the clock to bring home Evan and Paul,

Americans being unjustly detained by the Russians and others around the world. Israel has a right to go after Hamas. Hamas ended this conflict by releasing hostages, laying down arms, could end it by releasing the hostages, laying down arms, and surrendering those responsible for October 7th. But Israel has a — excuse me — Israel has an added burden because the mosque hides and operates among the civilian population like cowards, under hospitals, daycare centers, and all the like. Israel also has a fundamental responsibility, though, to protect innocent civilians in Gaza. This war has taken a greater toll on innocent civilians than all previous wars in Gaza combined. More than 30,000 Palestinians have been killed, most of whom are not Hamas.

Thousands and thousands of innocents, women and children, girls and boys, also orphaned. Nearly two million more Palestinians under bombardment or displacement. Homes destroyed, neighbors in rubble, cities in ruin, families without food, water, medicine. It's heartbreaking. I've been working nonstop to establish an immediate ceasefire that would last for six weeks to get all the prisoners released, all the hostages released, to get the hostages home and ease the intolerable humanitarian crisis and build toward an enduring, a more, something more enduring. The United States is leading international efforts to get more humanitarian assistance to Gaza. Tonight, I'm directing the U.S. military to lead an emergency mission to establish a temporary

pier in the Mediterranean on the coast of Gaza that can receive large shipments carrying food, water, medicine, and temporary shelters. No U.S. boots will be on the ground. A temporary pier will enable a massive increase in the amount of humanitarian assistance getting into Gaza every day. And Israel must do its part. Israel must allow more aid into Gaza and ensure humanitarian workers aren't caught in the crossfire. They're announcing they're going to have a crossing in northern Gaza. For the leadership of Israel, I say this.

Humanitarian assistance cannot be a secondary consideration or a bargaining chip. Protecting and saving innocent lives has to be a priority. As we look to the future, the only real solution to the situation is a two-state solution over time. And I say this as a lifelong supporter of Israel. My entire career, no one has a stronger record with Israel than I do. I challenge any of you here. I'm the only American president to visit Israel in wartime. But there is no other path that guarantees Israel security and democracy. There is no other path that guarantees Palestinians can live in peace with peace and dignity. And there's no other path that guarantees peace between Israel and all of its neighbors,

including Saudi Arabia, with whom I'm talking. Creating stability in the Middle East also means containing the threat posed by Iran. That's why I've built a coalition of more than a dozen countries to defend international shipping and freedom of navigation in the Red Sea. I've ordered strikes to degrade the Houthi capability and defend U.S. forces in the region. As Commander-in-Chief, I will not hesitate to direct further measures to protect our people and our military personnel. For years, I've heard many of my Republican and Democratic friends say that China is on the rise and America is falling behind. They've got it backwards. I've been

saying it for over four years even when I wasn't president. America's rising. We have the best economy in the world and since I've come to office our GDP is up, our trade deficit of China is down to the lowest point over a decade and we're standing up against China's unfair economic practices. We're standing up for peace and stability across the Taiwan Straits. I've revitalized our partnership and alliance in the Pacific — India, Australia, Japan, South Korea, the Pacific Islands. I've made sure that the most advanced American technologies can't be used in China, not allowing to trade them there. Frankly, for all this tough talk on China,

it never occurred to my predecessor to do any of that. I want competition with China, not conflict. And we're in a stronger position to win the conflict of the 21st century against China than anyone else for that matter, than any time as well. Here at home, I've signed over 400 bipartisan bills. There's more to pass my unity agenda. Strengthen penalties on fentanyl trafficking. You don't want to do that, huh? Past bipartisan prophecy that says to protect our children online. A lot of times the big economic forces we hear about on the news show up in our lives in small ways.

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

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

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

Add free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Lott. And this is Season 2 of the War on Drugs podcast. Yes, sir. We are back. In a big way. In a very big way. Real'm Greg Glod. And this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast. Yes, sir. We are back. In a big way. In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives.

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

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

It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. is to protect our children online. Harness. Harness the promise of AI to protect us from peril. Ban AI voice impersonations and more. And keep our truly sacred obligation to train and equip those we send into harm's way

and care for them and their families when they come home and when they don't. That's why the song, Support and Help, of Dennis and the VA, I signed the PACT Act, one of the most significant laws ever, helping millions of veterans exposed to toxins who now are battling more than 100 different cancers. Many of them don't come home, but we owe them and their families support. We owe it to ourselves to keep supporting our new health research agency called ARPA-H. And remind us that we can do big things, like end cancer as we know it.

And we will. Let me close with this. Yay! I know you don't want to hear any more, Lindsay, but I got to say a few more things. I know it may not look like it, but I've been around a while. When you get to be my age, certain things become clearer than ever. I know the American story. Again and again, I've seen the contest between competing forces and the battle for the soul

of our nation, between those who want to pull America back to the past and those who want to move America into the future. My lifetime has taught me to embrace freedom and democracy, a future based on core values that have defined America. Honesty, decency, dignity, equality. To respect everyone. To give everyone a fair shot. To give hate no safe harbor.

Now other people my age see it differently. The American story of resentment, revenge, and retribution, that's not me. I was born amid World War II when America stood for the freedom of the world. I grew up in Scranton, Pennsylvania, in Claymont, Delaware, among working-class people who built this country. I watched in horror as two of my heroes, like many of you did, Dr. King and Bobby Cunningham, were assassinated, and their legacies inspired me to pursue a career in service.

I left the law firm and became a public defender because my city of Wilmington was the only city in America occupied by the National Guard after Dr. King was assassinated because of the riots. And I became a county councilman almost by accident. I got elected to the United States Senate when I had no intention of running at age 29. Then vice president of our first black president, now president of the first women vice president. In my career, I've been told I was too young. By the way, they didn't let me on ascended elevators for votes sometimes. Not a joke.

I've been told I'm too old. Whether young or old, I've always been known, I've always known what endures. I've known our North Star. The very idea of America is that we're all created equal. It deserves to be treated equally throughout our lives. We've never fully lived up to that idea, but we've never walked away from it either. And I won't walk away from it now. I'm optimistic. I really am. I'm optimistic, Nancy. My fellow Americans, the issue facing our nation isn't how old we are, it's how old are our ideas. Hate, anger, revenge, retribution are the oldest of ideas.

But you can't lead America with ancient ideas that only take us back. You lead America the land of possibilities. You need a vision for the future and what can and should be done. Tonight, you've heard mine. I see a future where defending democracy, you don't diminish it. I see a future where we restore the right to choose and protect our freedoms, not take them away.

I see a future where the middle class finally has a fair shot, and the wealthy have to pay their fair share in taxes. I see a future where we save the planet from the climate crisis and our country from gun violence. Above all, I see a future for all Americans. I see a country for all Americans. And I will always be president for all Americans. Because I believe in America.

I believe in you, the American people. You're the reason we've never been more optimistic about our future than I am now. So let's build the future together. Let's remember who we are. We are the United States of America. And there is nothing, nothing beyond our capacity when we act together. God bless you all and may God protect our troops. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Folks, game on. President Joe Biden came out. You notice something major when all the Republicans

are complaining, saying that he was loud, he was shouting, but I thought they said he was too frail and he couldn't talk. Lots of energy, and he took it right to the Republicans. He stared them down. He stared the Supreme Court down. He stared all down. He had shade.

He was petty. And he was direct. Let's go right around to our roundtable here. We got lots of folks who are going to be weighing in. We got people. We got lots of people around the country going to be weighing in as well. First off, St. Order Mustafa, you first. Your thoughts.

I thought the president did a great job. He was very clear. He was very succinct on the various things that are going on in the country and a set of solutions that are a part of it. He made sure that folks saw themselves reflected in the work that has currently been going on and also bringing forward that there's still more work to do. You know, I was reminded of a quote from Plato when he said the worst form of injustice is pretend justice. So, you know, the president was sharing the sets of challenges, but also the resources that are there, the tools that are there, because you can't talk about

policy without resources. And making sure that folks understood that there are a set of resources in this moment and also talked about the future of how we can move forward. So I appreciated the things that he said. He's also very clear that there's a lot of work that still needs to happen. Jelena? Listen, the presidential petty, the lickbacks, I know you can read.

Don't mess with Dark Brandon. There were so many themes I saw tonight, but he came off very strong, very stolid, not humble in a good way, letting people know with clarity what's happening. Again, he was presidential. He's taking the country back, and

I'm just, I'm so excited right now. And it's what we needed, so. Nola? I mean, everybody talking about his age, he put it out there and he stood there. He endured. His endurance was part of the test tonight. He delivered.

He, you know, there were a few stumbles here and there, but I think that's genuine. That's part of it. You know, you cannot run away from the fact that this man is 81 years old and he stood there, he took the jeering. He's also had a stutter his whole life. That's right.

Exactly. So that is all part of it. And I like that authenticity, right? As he's staring at someone in the audience wearing MAGA gear, you know, and he's hearing people in the foyer like, you know, doing all the things that they do. I think he handled it very well. One of the things that touched my heart beyond the foreign policy was the education piece. We can talk more about that. But that really surprised me. I loved the clear policies that were set forward when we're talking about the workforce, when we're talking about education, because of the top ten countries of the most educated in the world, we are not there. So tonight, this was bringing the U.S. back. Racy? This was a CVS receipts type of night.

You know what I'm saying? I love you too, ma'am. What is your problem? You're not here, ma'am. type of night. You know what I'm saying? I love it. What is this? You know what I'm saying? You know what I'm saying? You know what I'm saying? Where my food out of there? Where my food out of there?

Why did you share this? You gave me another goddamn receipt for what I just got. But listen, if you need a cute wall to collect in 2024, reelected, Biden, Harris, you got it tonight. And so there's no confusion whatsoever about what they've done, what they've delivered, and what they plan to do in the future. And the most important thing to me is this was a very partisan speech.

It was. I would have liked for him to say Republican a little bit more. He said, my friends across the aisle. He said, my... That's the shade, though. You know, he was subtle. He didn't say a word. He said lies. He did. He did. But he could have, right. Connecting the dots, you can't overestimate the way people connect the word. He said lies. He did. But he could have, right. Connecting the dots, you can't overestimate

the way people connect the dots. So I'm going to knock one peg and I'm going to give him a lot of credit. But I'm just saying, I would have liked to have heard Republicans specifically. However, discounting that, it was a very partisan speech, which is what I wanted to see tonight. Lay out the clear contrast

in terms of the direction of the country, in terms of what we have delivered, in terms of what they've obstructed. He delivered on all those things. He had the style. He had the endurance. I would have liked to be a little more short because I was getting nervous for him for a little bit second there. But I think if you were worried,

can he stand up and go toe-to-toe with Trump, this absolutely answered. He is ready for the job. Erica, here's the thing that people forget. He was back in Congress. That's home.

So this is somebody who spent 30 plus years, almost 40 years in the United States Senate. Being behind that podium, he's like, oh, I'm good. I'm good. I'm back home. And so you saw it in terms of how he was willing to joust with the Republicans,

even challenging them on, oh, y'all against tax cuts? Y'all can't read, right? You took the words right out of my mouth. I love the way that he drew the distinction in who paid and who skated by. Republicans did not support a lot of the bills that were necessary to keep the country fluid. And I love that Reverend Barber talked about this when he was on your show earlier.

He talked about the child tax credit and what that did in the six months that it was allowed to be law and how many children were out of poverty and what that did for the economy as a whole. So to bring that out, to draw that distinction, and to let the American people know it is the people that do have the power of the purse strings that are in the majority that are the reason why this is not a continued policy. I loved it.

I loved that he also pointed out early in his speech that you can't only love your country when you win, right? So, like, yeah, like, get it. I loved it. I loved that he also pointed out early in his speech that you can't only love your country when you win, right? So like, yeah, like, get it together. So this was absolutely the knockdown drag out that we were really waiting to see. Greg Carr, he dragged

the hell out of the Supreme Court. And he said, y'all don't see the power of women. Oh, he did. In fact, he said, find out. Right, he did. He was signaling to those of us't see the power of women. Oh, he did. In fact, he said, find out. Right. He did. He was signaling to those of us who know the first two words. First of all, I don't, you know, that's the best speech I've ever heard Joe Biden give.

Absolutely. Second of all, or maybe first of all, the Democrats seem to have put the nomination speech in March. So that by the end of the summer, all he has to do is get that same speech. So he's taking Trump. Trump's brain is melting as we speak. He attached Trump to him at the end. He basically said, we're the same age. And he said, I've seen all this.

You know, history is watching. That first quote, a lot of these are going to be campaign quotes, right? The exporting jobs issue, the Medicaid negotiating price, a lot of Democratic talking points, the housing stuff, preschool, as you say, Nolan, very important. But it was interesting how he lingered on things like make these billionaires pay their taxes. A thousand billionaires, 8%. You know, in other words, he's going to fight the class war. That's what the Democrats have been doing in this administration. They're going to go after the class populism again, shades of saints.

And also boxes Trump in by saying, you're going to defend your billionaires? Exactly, especially since he broke now. It's going to be very interesting. He used the Selma pivot to get the race stuff in. The John Lewis, he didn't quite get to George Floyd, but he did evoke the kind of things that are locally very popular in terms of the country. And then finally, of course, Uvalde. That was good.

He had a sister there. He showed the sympathy for someone who had been killed by an immigrant, but he went right at immigration. It was some sun-shoot stuff. In other words, I know you're going to talk about my age, so let me get there first. I'm going to talk about what I remember, and then I'm going to talk about the future. I say my future is my vision for the future. And then on

Israel, he did probably as good as you could say about Israel. He's not going to come. He's going to have to fight that fight over the arc of the next few months. But he said about what he could say. Let's go around the country. Let's go to Virginia. Don Scott, he is the Speaker of the House in Virginia. Representative Don Scott, my Alfred brother,

your thoughts on President Biden's State of the Union speech? Home run. It was easily his best speech that I've seen him give. He touched on every facet. Folks wanted to hear about the economy, to the reduction in violent crime. Wherever your concern was about education, about public education, he did the best job I've heard him do so far, talking about Israel and our humanitarian interests and making sure that we

also address Gaza and that you can't do anything without democracy. I think he framed the argument that we're going to have in this next few weeks as those who believe in democracy, believe in the optimism and the idea of America. And I thought his favorite, his best line was when he said that we've always lived up to our ideas, but we've never learned from them or worse to that effect. And I believe that's what folks want to hear. There are people who believe that Donald Trump does not believe in democracy. And he has embraced the ideas around Putin and Russia. And there are those of us who still believe in America. I serve here in Virginia. I'm the Speaker of the House here in Virginia.

And I talk to my Republican colleagues every day. There were many of them who have been forced to endorse Trump because they had no choice. But there are many who did not, surprisingly. Donald Trump had a rally here this past Saturday, and there were many Republicans that did not go. In fact, the governor, Governor Young did not attend. The lieutenant governor did not attend. The attorney general, they're all Republicans.

None of them attended the rally right here in Richmond on Saturday. The governor found a reason to be at a basketball game at UVA in Charlottesville. So they know that Trump is toxic. I think President Biden has laid it out that he has the policy prescriptions, he has the record and the accomplishments that the Americans want to embrace, and I

think he has to continue to make his case because there are some out here who have embraced the core personality that is Donald J. Trump. Speaker Don Scott, I appreciate you joining us tonight. Thanks a lot. Thank you. Let's go to Pennsylvania. Speaker of the House, Joanna McClinton. Speaker McClinton, glad to have you back on the show. Your thoughts, your assessment of tonight's State of the Union speech by President Biden.

Well, Roland and family and friends, tonight, President Biden showed a strong America. In fact, he talked, my favorite line being about defending democracy. As I look into the Florida House, I think about January the 6th, 2021. Why do I think about it? Because most people don't know. Many Pennsylvanians went down to Washington, D.C. and have been arrested and held accountable. So the big lie spread in this commonwealth like wildfire. And we cannot diminish the fact that our former president led, orchestrated, and was a part of that madness and will do it again if given the opportunity. So I was proud that the president didn't only stand up for democracy, but he talked

about the things that are on all of our minds, being able to afford things better now than when he was first elected, whether we're talking about gas prices, groceries, how many more people are off of unemployment, back in work, how many more folks have opportunities since he's passed all these good acts, how many people we all know whose loans have been forgiven, student loans, folks who were loaded down into debt, what should be middle-aged time in their life, having freedom from it, but you make those minimum payments, the interest does not allow you to ever do it. But thanks to his leadership, students' loans have been forgiven, adults' loans have been forgiven. And these are the things that push our country forward. And these are the things that even here in the battleground state of the Commonwealth of

Pennsylvania will earn him another four years. And when he wrapped up talking about women not forgetting in Pennsylvania, that's how we got a one-seat majority in the statehouse. That's how our governor, Josh Shapiro, swept the insurrectionist Doug Mastriano. That's how our governor, Josh Shapiro, swept the insurrectionist Doug Mastriano. That's how in 2023, our top candidates for the highest court of our Commonwealth won. The Democrats have been winning and we expect to be with our president come this November. Speaker McClinton, glad to have you on the show. Thanks for your perspective. Thanks a lot. Thank you. Let's go to Buffalo. The mayor of Buffalo, Mayor Byron Brown, another alpha man. Mayor Brown, your thoughts. Roland, very good to be with you and your large audience.

It was a very strong speech by President Biden, certainly a speech that demonstrated why our president deserves a second term. I think he talked about all of the issues that are important to American people. He talked about gun violence reduction, banning assault weapons and high capacity magazines. In Buffalo on May 14, 2022, we had a mass shooting by a white supremacist. Mass shootings continue to happen all across America in urban, rural, and suburban communities. No community is immune to that. The president was very strong on that. He talked about women's health research. We know that particularly for black women in America, there is high maternal mortality, high infant mortality. So a focus on women's health, critically important. about tax fairness, billionaires paying their fair share and being able to use the resources of that to fund programs to strengthen all of America. He talked about seniors and protecting

Social Security. Under his predecessor, and unfortunately to many Americans, social security and the security of our seniors is under threat. So I thought it was a very strong speech by the president. I think it bodes well for the future of our country if President Biden is reelected. And I certainly will be doing everything that I can as mayor of Buffalo, New York, to help President Biden be reelected. Mayor Biden Brown, we appreciate it. Thanks a lot. Let's go back to Pennsylvania State Senator Vincent Hughes. Senator Hughes, your perspective.

I'm good to be with you, brother. Thank you for having me. Look, I chaired the Senate Appropriations Committee on the Democratic side, so I'm always focusing on the numbers. And what I heard from President Biden is a strong reflection of some significant policy wins that he's been able to achieve in his three and a half years as president. When you look at the numbers, Black child poverty rate cut by 50 percent, increase in Black participation in the Affordable Care Act by 49 percent, Black unemployment rate lowest in the history. Black business startups, highest in the history. These numbers are meaningful. This is a record he should be embracing and he should be selling. And we've got to help. We have got to help sell this record

to the people that we represent and the people that deserve to have another four years of Joe Biden. Very strong rush to the record because it is a good record. It is a strong policy record. It's not complete. We got more work to do. But this is a hell of a strong foundation that he stands on. And he helped sell that this evening. And I really like how he embraced his age at the end he he said look i'm old i got it all right y'all know that but that's all right and and and i think that kind of took some of the edge

off of some of the negativity that might come going going forward coming out of this conversation but i'm very impressed with what he did very proud of what he how how he presented himself this evening and extremely proud, extremely proud of his record of accomplishments and that we've got to take this as a foundation. You know, in the end, good good policy usually winds up being good politics. And there's a lot of good policy that we can advocate for in the black community but in all communities. Very great evening tonight. Very great evening. Senator Vincent Hughes, we appreciate

you joining us. Thanks a bunch. And tell your wife Cherilee Raff, I said, what's up? I'm going to do that. Alright, thanks a bunch. Alright, y'all. We got lots more to talk about, but I do want to have a flashback. Y'all, a year ago we had our State of the Union coverage, and y'all remember this moment. Erica Shield, as she know, and Recy know.

And this thing, y'all, has literally gone viral. It has literally gone viral, okay, the entire year. It's gone viral like every month. Just the other day, Senator Cory Booker posted the video of our conversation talking about reproductive rights last year We might as well Play it again

Take reasons not doing in Mississippi. So what I'm saying is this here What I'm saying is this here when I listen to Republicans talk about being pro-life, what I want to know is where their pro-life stance is when it comes to Head Start. Where their pro-life stance is. No, no, no. When it comes to prenatal care, where their pro-life stance. A lot of times the big economic forces we hear about on the news show up in our lives in small ways. Three or four days a week, I would buy two cups of banana pudding. But the price has gone up, so now I only buy one. The demand curve in action. And that's just one of the things we'll be covering on Everybody's Business from Bloomberg Businessweek.

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

So listen to Everybody's Business on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops called this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser told them. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multibillion-dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission.

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subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. When you have black women who have a high rate of dying in childbirth, where are your pro-life policies when it comes to infant mortality? What I'm saying is, when you are a Republican in the state of Mississippi and you push a law and the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade and you are ill-prepared to handle the 5,000 new babies

maybe because the money that you could care for the poor went to Brit Favre. And all I want to see is the governor of Mississippi, who's opposing Medicaid expansion seeing rural hospitals shut down in his state and you got white women and black women who are dying and Republicans control the legislature. They control the governor's mansion. So don't

tell me they are pro-life when they are unwilling to accept Medicaid expansion but then they say we don't want to accept money from the federal government when they send $1 to the federal government and they get $4 back. When you look at this concept, what you're saying to me right now is that because you believe that Republicans are not supporting pro-living, I disagree. I look at the Republican support for community health centers. I look at the Republicans trying to... Where? Where? Everywhere, Roland. South Carolina. North Carolina. North Carolina. Tennessee. Georgia. Arkansas. Texas. Mississippi. Alabama. They all are against Medicaid expansion. And, Dina, rural hospitals, are you telling me rural hospitals,

are you literally telling me that rural hospitals in Mississippi, Alabama, Texas, Arkansas, Tennessee, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, are not shutting down? Are you actually telling me that? I am not telling you that. So therefore, if they're shutting down, how then are the people able to get care? How? Roland, what I'm saying is that there are, when we talk about aborting babies, like so you're saying to me that because we support life,

actually giving babies the opportunity to live, I'm confused. I'm so confused. First of all, you know what, hold up. You're confused because you think I'm saying something that I'm not. What I'm telling you, I'm being very

clear. You cannot say you are pro-life when you vote against prenatal care for the mother. You cannot say you are pro-life when you vote against prenatal care for the mother. You cannot say you are pro-life when you vote against Head Start. You cannot say you are pro-life when you do not want to expand Medicaid to keep hospitals open. You cannot say you are pro-life when you have OBGYNs who are not available in your state. You cannot say you are pro-life when you have black women who are dying at a higher rate during childbirth and you do nothing public policy-wise to fix it. You cannot say you are pro-life if you allow infant mortality rates to be sky-high in areas where there are black and brown people.

What that tells me is you are anti-abortion. You are not pro-life. Because if you are pro-life, you care about the child in the womb and when the child is out. And if you are pro-life, you are standing there with black folks when their kids are killed by cops. You are not silent. So if you are pro-life, be pro-life from the womb to the tomb, but not just in the womb. Literally, that thing has gotten about 30 million plus views. What?

Cause it's literally, folks posted on TikTok and Facebook and every time somebody posted, I'm at Harry Belafonte's Celebration of Life on Friday. And this white woman says, I don't even know who you are, but I swear every other day, a TikTok video, you talking about Wound to the Tomb comes up. She was like, thank you, thank you, thank you.

And I was like, I appreciate that. And again, just the other day, Senator Cory Booker posted it. And here's the thing. Since last year, guess who expanded Medicaid? I. Mississippi. That's right. Yep.

Governor Tate Reees was still opposing it because the broke Republicans even realized they can oppose the governor. That's also what happens when you put pressure on folk to stand up for public policy. And of course, Erica, your meme that look...

Can I tell you, listen, last year we were all shook. I think my expression was really an expression for everyone, but it was also that expression to hear someone, additionally, who was a black woman spout that for me because understanding very clearly what the data says, particularly around black maternal health. And even us going to the hospital,

there's a risk that we won't come out better than what we were when we came in. So as charged as it was for those of us that were here last year to listen to, it was also really critically important for the audience to hear that type of breakdown and understand that for a country that touts to be the wealthiest in the nation, well, why in the hell is it that we are a country that has the least amount of people that take a country that touts to be the wealthiest in the nation, well, why in the hell is it that we are a country that has the least amount of people that take a holiday or vacation every day,

every year, that does not have sick leave, people that are very labor-centric, they're literally dying at work, and that we don't have health care, universal health care. And Recy, look, there are people, I know lots of people, lots of black people, who are against

abortion. Yeah. What I was trying to get Dina Bass to understand is I'm not going to narrow this thing. If you say you about life, then be about life. Period. But don't just be anti-abortion.

Yeah, she didn't have the answer sway. I feel sorry for her. I was like, ooh, ooh, just like being punched around. She was in Lion's Den that day and she just didn't come prepared, you know, beyond. That's the problem with a lot of the Republicans and the conservatives. They don't come prepared

beyond the talking points. So she got her ass handed to her that day. And as a black woman, I felt a little sympathy for her. But the reality is, as you point out, Erica, even as President Biden to his credit pointed out about maternal mortality, this is

not just an abortion issue. This is a health care issue. This is a reproductive justice issue. This is a quality of life issue. And so it was an important conversation. I'm glad it's being recycled. D.O. Hughley posted it. I don't know if you saw. And so it was an important conversation. I'm glad it's being recycled. D.O. Hughley posted it. I don't know if you saw that the other day. It's everywhere. It keeps going.

You know, Greg, look, we all do stuff. We all do stuff. We all give speeches and stuff. But there are times when you go, shit, his ass was good. That's true. That's true. I mean, look, I'm like Erica. I mean, and Recy, it was, you know, you can't fake certain things. What was it?

The famous line attributed to Mike Tyson when they were talking about how his opponent was going to beat him. And Tyson said, yeah, everybody got to play until they get hit. When you get hit, what comes out is what you trained to do all your life. What we saw you do there, there were no notes. There were no, no, you went right down through policy by policy by policy. And I agree. It's sad when you see a black person do that because you can't defend it. Our people have suffered.

It was very interesting to hear Joe Biden mention those who were brought here in chains. I mean, he went through the laundry list. And we see on social media, Kim Klasick and C.J. Pearson are on there talking about him yelling tonight. And then Byron Donalds wandered into, Donald wandered into social media and said something about that tax cut.

And it's getting drugged, as far as I can tell, because, no, bruh, he said 1,000 people paying 8%, and you're going to defend them? Some Negroes need to just be quiet. And that night you showed what happens when a Negro wanders into the fast lane and is not prepared. And again, I mean, we invited Dina back this year and again

and again. Oh really? I got no problem with black conservatives, but understand, when we get it, when we start talking about it, you got start talking about it, you got to be about it. All right, listen, we got to go to a break.

We got, we going to swap out some panelists, bring in others. Yo, we got some folks lined up, folks. Lieutenant Governor of Michigan is coming up. We got my girl Tiffany Lofton come up. We got the Mayor of Birmingham, the Mayor of Montgomery, Alabama. We got all kind of folks still waiting to come up.

Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett is going to be here. Folks, our coverage is off the chain. Y'all don't need to waste time with CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, and the rest of them because they ain't got this much flavor. Y'all know. See, this is seasoned chicken. That's unseasoned. We'll be right back.

That was fun. That was fun. For the last 15 or maybe 16, 18 years, I'll say, since when I moved to L.A., I hadn't had a break. I hadn't had a vacation. I had a week vacation here and there. Right. This year, after I got finished doing Queen's Chicken, we wrapped it up.

Because I knew I had two TV shows coming on at the same time. So I'm taking a break. So I've been on break for the first time, and I can afford it. Break's done. You know what I'm saying? So I can afford it. I can sit back and ain't got nothing to worry about, man.

But this was the first time in almost two decades that I've actually had time to sit down and smell the roses. Next on The Black Table with me, Greg Cox. The United States is the most dangerous place for a woman to give birth among all industrialized nations on the planet. Think about that for a second. That's not all. Black women are three times more likely to die in this country during childbirth than white women.

These health care systems are inherently racist. There are a lot of white supremacist ideas and mythologies around black women, black women's bodies, even black people that we experience pain less, right? Activist, organizer, and fearless freedom fighter, Monifa Akunwole-Vandele from Moms Rising joins us and tells us this shocking phenomenon, like so much else, is rooted in unadulterated racism. And that's just one of her fights. Monifa Bandele on the next Black Table here on the Black Star Network. Up next on The Frequency with me, Dee Barnes, our special guest, Alicia Garza, one of the founders of the Black Lives Matter movement.

We're going to discuss her new book, The Purpose of Power, how we come together when we fall apart. We live in a world where we have to navigate. You know, when we say something, people look at us funny. But when a man says the same thing less skillfully than we did, right? Everybody flocks towards what they said, even though it was your idea. Right here on The Frequency on the Black Star Network. When you talk about blackness and what happens in black culture, we're about covering these things that matter to us,

speaking to our issues and concerns. This is a genuine people-powered movement. There's a lot of stuff that we're not getting. You get it. And you spread the word. We wish to plead our own cause to long have others spoken for us. We cannot tell our own story if we can't pay for it. This is about covering us.

Invest in Black-owned media. Your dollars matter. We don't have to keep asking them to cover our stuff. So please support us in what we do, folks. We want to hit 2,000 people. $50 this month. Waits $100,000. We're behind $100,000. So we want to hit that. Your money makes this possible. Check some money orders. Go to P.O. Box 57196, Washington, D.C., 20037-0196. The Cash app is Dollar Sign RM Unfiltered. PayPal is R. Martin Unfiltered. Venmo is RM Unfiltered.

Zelle is Roland at RolandSMartin.com. Hatred on the streets, a horrific scene, a white nationalist rally that descended into deadly violence. You will not replace us. White people are losing their damn lives. It's an angry pro-Trump mob storm to the U.S. Capitol. We're about to see the rise of what I call white minority resistance. We have seen white folks in this country who simply cannot tolerate black folks voting. I think what we're seeing is the inevitable result of violent denial.

This is part of American history. Every time that people of color have made progress, whether real or symbolic, there has been what Carol Anderson at Emory University calls white rage as a backlash. This is the wrath of the Proud Boys and the Boogaloo Boys. America, there's going to be more of this. Here's all the Proud Boys, guys. This country is getting increasingly racist in its behaviors and its attitudes because of the fear of white people. The fear that they're taking our jobs, they're taking our resources, they're taking our women. This is white people hi i am tommy davidson i play oscar on proud family louder Prouder. I don't say I don't play Sammy, but I could. Or I don't play Obama, but I could.

I don't do Stallone, but I could do all that. And I am here with Roland Martin on Unfiltered. A lot of times the big economic forces we hear about on the news show up in our lives in small ways. Three or four days a week, I would buy two cups of banana pudding. But the price has gone up, so now I only buy one. The demand curve in action. And that's just one of the things we'll be covering on Everybody's Business from Bloomberg Businessweek. I'm Max Chavkin.

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

will always be no. Across the country, cops called this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multi-billion dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season 1. Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad.

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

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

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

It makes it real. It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. All right, fam, welcome back to Seasoned Porkchops.

Trust me, y'all ain't get the mother people. I'm already seeing some of the texts and comments how bland the other coverage is. But what mystical say, it ain't my fault. It's not my fault. All right, y'all, I told you I began a fantastic lineup. Let's right now go to Michigan. The lieutenant governor, Garland Gilchrist, joins us right now. Lieutenant Governor Gilchrist, your thoughts about President Biden's speech. Roland, good to be here with you. I am proud of my president. I think he really stood tall for our values and was forceful in making the case for the future and for progress and the progress that

includes everyone. That includes black Americans. That includes young Americans. That includes our elders. That includes the differently abled. That includes immigrants who are fighting for their rights in this country as well. I mean, I think he really showed that Democrats are about making sure that everybody's part of the future of America. And I'm really proud of my president. Did you also like the kitchen table issues that also matter to folks there in Michigan and also speak to when he talked about Israel, Hamas was happening in Gaza. That's critical for your state with so many Muslim voters. That's right. The president has always been a practical leader who responds to what he hears

from people. And we need to put money in people's pockets, make sure people can afford their medicine and afford their insulin to have access to health care, making sure we're creating jobs that are giving families sustaining wages and investing in our climate future. That all resonates really well here in the state of Michigan, alongside what me and Governor Whitmer are doing. And to what's happening in Gaza, I think the president was clear as one of the most empathetic people to ever serve in that office to speak to the suffering that is happening of the Palestinian people, to also speak to the suffering that happened of the Israeli people who were harmed by Hamas, and the fact that he and the vice president have so forcefully called for a ceasefire

represents progress so we can move forward. Lieutenant Governor Gilchrist, we appreciate you joining us, sharing your thoughts on tonight's State of the Union address. Thank you, Roland. Yes, sir. Thanks a lot. Let's go to Minnesota Attorney General, former Congressman Keith Ellison. How you doing, Doc? Oh, Bran, I'm all right, brother. Good to hear from you tonight.

Likewise. Just get your perspective on what you heard tonight. Well, he drew the contrast. You know, he made it clear that if you don't want him, there's another guy right over there and you may not like that guy. He made it, he reminded everybody that this was the author of the Muslim ban. This is the guy who gave the massive tax cuts to the very richest. He's the working class guy who's going to cut junk fees. He's the guy who's going to do something about prescription drug prices, insulin, not just for seniors, but $35

insulin for everybody. I thought he did what he had to do. Where was that doddering old man who they're talking about? I didn't see that guy. I saw kind of a old dude who wasn't about no mess. You might just get a switch on your ass.

He sounded like he was ready for it, man. And I'm like, look, their whole narrative, he's old and he can't, doesn't, doesn't, can't, you know, do anything. That's clearly a lie. You know, that's not true. On Gaza, I will tell you, you know, as a Muslim, as a person, I've been to Gaza myself three times, four times since 2006, Roland. Walked through the war zones, saw the misery and the pain. I'm glad that he mentioned that we do need a ceasefire. I'm glad that he mentioned that there needs to be an enduring solution for the Palestinian people, that there's got to be a country called Palestine in order

to undermine Hamas and in order to bring real stability. And I'm glad he called out Netanyahu. Netanyahu needs to be called out. Netanyahu is trying to keep his own self out of jail. So he's dragging this thing out. He's not doing this for the best interests of the Israeli people. He's doing it for personal reasons. And I'm glad that the president leaned on him, and he may have to lean on him a little more. And, you know, I'm glad that they're going to do, you know, direct humanitarian relief from, you know, the U.S. right off the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. I'm glad about that. And so, you know, I think that he did what he accomplished.

The key goals show that you're a fighter, show that you're tough, show how quick on your feet that you are because he's really quick and don't take any crap. And did you see how he didn't back down to that crowd? They didn't intimidate him. He seemed to get jazzed up by punking them. He was off in their face. And why are they complaining about it being a political speech? These people are 100% of the time being political, starting trouble, calling people names, but they cannot take it. What a bunch of snowflakes, man.

So that's my thoughts. That's my two cents out, Roland. As they always say, the way you fight a bully, you punch him back. That is the only way. Attorney General Keith Ellison, I appreciate it, sir. Thanks a lot. Okay, brother. See you.

Let's go to Illinois. Attorney General Kwame Raul. How you doing, Doc? I'm doing well. I'm doing well. I'm doing well. I got to agree with my colleague, Keith, up there in Minnesota. Joe Biden proved tonight that he ain't no punk. Every time he was challenged, he responded. He paused and he responded. He went off script and responded to the heckling. He laid out his case on how he has rebounded the economy. He made it clear how he has done it and how it has impacted the Black community by mentioning

racial wealth gap narrowing, by talking about how unemployment is at a 50-year low, by explaining how on student loan debt forgiveness he has taken that on, notwithstanding the fact that he was challenged on doing it more broadly. As a cancer survivor, I like the fact that he's continuing to take on cancer voting rights. And that line towards the beginning that you can't have you can't love your country only when you win, I think was a powerful start to his speech today. He also shouted out one of your constituents who was in the box with the first lady, one of the UAW workers from Illinois. Yeah, I was at the Belvedere plant when President Biden came. It's a tremendous move that revitalized a plant that was shut down, and it's putting

people back to work. The critical thing—I've watched news shows over and over talk about how the polls demonstrate that people are not having confidence in the president with regards to the economy, but they're avoiding the facts. And facts should matter. The unemployment rate being driven down, inflation rate, inflation rate being driven down, small businesses growing. These these are the facts. People want to talk about the polls instead of the facts. We need to continue to repeat the facts. And I think, again, Joe Biden demonstrated tonight. Now, I didn't know what to expect, but he demonstrated tonight that he is strong, he can communicate. And I like the

fact that he took on age even. Indeed. Attorney General Kwame Rowe, I appreciate it, brother. Thanks a lot. All right. Thanks for having me. Folks, let's go to Memphis. Tammy Saul, your former Shelby County commissioner. Congratulations on winning your primary on Tuesday to be the general sessions court court clerk. Speak to what you heard tonight from President Biden. Thank you so much, Roland. I appreciate the congratulations. You know, I was watching the pre show. And the first thing that really came to mind is that you all shared that President Biden needed to look and sound strong tonight. And I do think that he did achieve that. Now,

he did need a Werther's Original or some hot tea, but other than that, he sounded really strong. But I did have a few concerns that I think are pressing issues that remain for Gen Z and millennial. When he was heckled, he called immigrants illegals. And on Twitter right now, you can see a lot of Latinx activists who are just really hurt and outraged about that comment. No matter their status entering this country, they're still humans. And as Democrats, as people who are on the better side of things, we have to be careful with our language. And that was a huge gaffe for the president tonight and something that I think his team's

going to have to respond to over the coming days. As someone who lives in Memphis, right on the border of Mississippi, the only blue county in Tennessee, I was very pleased to hear him address abortion rights and IVF rights. As a black woman who has no reproductive rights in my own state. I was glad to not only see southern women there and present to represent reproductive rights, but also to have that conversation directly in the face of SCOTUS. So there were a lot of strong points, some gaps, but it was very Biden-esque. And I think that he showed that he's still learning and ready to have these conversations

through November. One of the things that I thought was important, and it wasn't a quick drive-by, was talking about Selma and challenging Republicans saying, if you love John Lewis, you pass that bill with his name on it. Absolutely important. As we all know, today is the anniversary of Bloody Sunday. And what I love that he said is how that protest resulted in five months later the Voting Rights Act being passed.

And so it was also, even though he didn't make that connection, it was a clear connection between the fact that we have to use, continue to use our voices to make any change. We're still fighting for voting rights in this country 50-plus years after Bloody Sunday, 50-plus years after people were beaten and brutalized for wanting just the right to vote. But that's also why it's important for us, for my generation, to show up to the polls. As you just mentioned, I just won an election with less than 10 percent turnout in the blackest city in Tennessee. Unacceptable, right? I can't be too proud of that because we have so far to go. All right, then. Well, I certainly appreciate, Tammy, you joining us. Thanks a lot. Take care. All right. We've got some new folks on our panel. I'm going to start going around.

Let me first go DEI disruptor Randy Bryant. Randy, your assessment. Weigh in. I was quite proud of our president tonight. I mean, what we needed to see from him mainly, primarily, is that he had the energy. We've been worried. You know, they've been really harboring down on his age. And is he able to do this job? And I thought tonight he brought the energy.

He brought the funk, as you like to say. But I do have to mention, real quickly, when we talk about energy, our vice president, Kamala. I was as proud as to say. But I do have to mention real quickly when we talk about energy, our Vice President Kamala. I was as proud as she was. Who knew she had Megan Thee Stallion knees? She got up and down so much tonight cheering for our President. I said, go ahead, Kamala.

I thought she was in the Catholic Church. She kept getting up and down. She sure did. I was like, okay, the Megan Thee Stallion knees. But I thought that he showed up and showed out. And he showed some spunk when they were coming at him as they do just lack of class, the Republicans there. You know, Marjorie Greene always has to show that she just has no class whatsoever. That's when you really see Joe, President Biden, become himself.

That's when he shows up the best. It's not scripted. That was him right there. That's when he shows up the best. It's not scripted. That was him right there. That was him. And so that shows that brain is still functioning and he can take us through and be our next president. LaVertoria Burke, Black Press USA. Yeah, I thought it was a well-delivered speech. There's no doubt about that. Everybody was

looking for energy. They got energy. We got what we were looking for in terms of him showing up physically. I do think, though, it's a big mistake to wait an hour to mention your first agenda item with regard to black Americans, which was like, I think it was about it, 57 minutes. Okay. Black voters are the base. They're the most important base of the Democratic Party. There was very few language in this speech.

At a time we see an attack on black history, attack on DEI. Obviously the end of the BLM racial reckoning thing has come to a complete end because there was nothing in this speech for that. And there's no reason for that other than being scared to talk to black people because you're scared to piss off white people that you think are going to vote for you who are not going to vote for you. Because if they care about that, they're never going to vote for you. It was a great speech, well-delivered, but he's got to show up more than just one day of the month. I mean, his schedule is sparse, and there's a habit in this White House to not have him out there. Well, here's what's happening, and I was actually there this morning. After this particular speech, he's going to be on the road, he's on the road tomorrow.

He's going to Georgia. He's actually on the road the next month. So they're going to be having him out and the vice president out and sitting city cabinet members all around the country as well. And so they're actually calling this State of the Union Month. That's sort of how they are framing it. I love it. I mean, they need to do that because there is a

lack of energy. I mean, there's just a lack of energy. He's got some states here. I don't think Virginia's really in play, but we don't see really a campaign in Virginia right now. There's a problem with that. Well, one of the things that I still don't understand,

there was a story just the other day, they were talking about how they're ramping up. I was like last year, yo, you should have had everybody in place come January 1. To be into March and you're still hiring people in critical states, that to me is crazy because the election started way before the traditional cycle. But, again, that's their decision, but now they've got to play catch up. Let's go to Morgan Harper. Morgan, Director of Policy and Advocacy for American Economic Liberties Project. You heard the president talk about jobs,

heard him talk about manufacturing, talked about tax cuts, and looked Republicans in the eye on them increasing the debt and then saying 1,000 billionaires, they can pay more. Right. Yeah, it was great to see the president

lean into so many economic issues. I mean, that has great to see the president lean into so many economic issues. I mean, that has been one of the biggest accomplishments of his administration, is on the economic front, competition issues. So calling out the fact that he has created all the manufacturing jobs, reducing junk fees that are costing consumers $20 billion. I thought it was great to have a number attached to that, because sometimes people like to poo-poo the junk fees where it's like, oh, it's $1 there, it's $2's two dollars there it's like yeah for you but you add that all up and that could be several hundred dollars a month that we're all paying these fees they are ticked off absolutely as they as they should be because they're about to lose a lot

of money but it wasn't money they were earning this is the point they are stealing our money even when he talked about prescription drugs he kept coming back to, y'all still don't make a lot of profit, just not as much. Exactly. And it's all about, and I thought he did a pretty good job of emphasizing this, he comes from the land of business, Delaware. This is where all of these companies are incorporated, right? It is a business-friendly environment.

And you can still be in business and make a lot of money. It's just going to require that you innovate, that you're creating value for the American economy, not that you're just a middleman and taking away money from hardworking Americans. That's not going to go anymore. Rebecca Carruthers, vice president of the Fair Election Center. So stylistically, I think the president did a good job tonight. However, I want to talk about some of the substance and listening to even what Lauren said earlier. We know three out of four white men who are voting are going to vote for Trump. We, we know three out of four white men who are voting

are going to vote for Trump. We know at least one out of two white women who are going to vote in November, they're going to vote for Trump. So we know that Joe Biden's path to the White House for a second term is going to be black men, black women, Hispanic women, Hispanic men. But we also know ever since Shelby,

with the Weekend Voting Rights Act, we know that there is a widening gap between black voters versus white voters. It's now 16 percent. Between Hispanic voters and white voters, it's now 22 percent, because of all of the onerous laws that makes it harder to access the ballot box, makes it harder to be registered to vote in many key battleground states, and also makes it easier for people who oppose democracy to purge voters off of the voting rolls. So my concern is that it was great tonight that Joe Biden talked about, hey, let's pass the Freedom to Vote Act, let's pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. That's great. But in the meantime,

we know it's not likely to pass in the next nine months. So what is this administration going to do at an executive level to make sure that people who want to vote going into the fall have the ability to vote in this country? Two more mayors coming up. Randall Woodfin, you're the mayor of Birmingham, Alabama. He joins us right now. Mayor Woodfin, your thoughts, perspective on what you heard tonight. Roman, thanks for having me on. I think the president actually did an amazing job. I've been watching his State of the Union since he's been in office,

and by far this is the best one, not just content and speech, but delivery, particularly the off-the-cuff moments where the hecklers and the disrespect from Republican members of Congress wanted to heckle him and how he was able to respond, even pulling in laughter from both sides, as well as making the point in the narrative and personal stories of how some of the things that have touched everyday Americans, how they affected the decision-making and the policies he's been able to create for the last three years. So just overall, I appreciated the high energy that he gave us.

And if you would, a boost and kick off the journey up until the election in November. So I think it came out the gate very strong. He also centered IVF. That's been a big issue in your state with Supreme Court ruling. Of course, the legislature had to actually pass a law. And then, of course, you had the junior senator from Alabama delivering the Republican response. And so he centered reproductive rights dealing with Alabama as well as Texas. I want to be very clear when I say this. Republicans can have it both ways.

A woman's body is her body. You can't choose and pick and choose what reproductive rights you want to give a woman the autonomy of her body. I think the Republicans are making some calculated decisions here related to by saying that you can't even do or use or have the opportunity for IVF. They know they would use a blue suburban white women, not just in November, but for years to come in the Republican Party. And so I think they don't care about women's reproductive rights. I think this is a power play. And they realize, oh, we're going to lose Republican white women. Let's pull back on this because I think we've taken it too far. And I think that's the only reason why they're even talking about this right now.

Mayor Randall Wilford, we appreciate you joining us. Thanks a lot. Yes, sir. Folks, joining us in the studio is Mayor Sean Patterson Howard of Mount Vernon, New York, but she's also president of the African-American Mayors Association. So, Mayor Patterson, we're glad to have you here. So, you got just to watch this speech with us. We should have actually had a live stream going so people actually could see.

Sort of like the ESPN game where they have Peyton and Eli. A lot of times the big economic forces we hear about on the news show up in our lives in small ways. Three or four days a week, I would buy two cups of banana pudding. But the price has gone up.

So now I only buy one. The demand curve in action. And that's just one of the things we'll be covering on Everybody's Business from Bloomberg Businessweek. I'm Max Chavkin. And I'm Stacey Vanek-Smith. Every Friday, we will be diving into the biggest stories in business, taking a look at what's going on, why it matters and how it shows up in our everyday lives. But guests like Businessweek We'll see you next time. to learn about VeChain. I want to buy some blockchain or whatever it is that they're doing. So listen to Everybody's Business on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no.

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

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

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

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

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

As the game is going on. So, Jess, what did you like tonight hearing from this president? I was absolutely proud of my president on tonight. He said we are in a fight for democracy. And he came out the corner with jabs and combinations and knockout punches. And that's really important. He backed it up with factual policy and his record, 15 million new jobs, $7 billion for HBCUs, $400 a month over a course of two years for people to be able to put towards home ownership. I know even in a pre-briefing we had, he spoke about $25,000 for first-generation home owners.

This is really important because that is how we're going to build wealth in our country. Two million new units of housing built and going after corporate landlords who are inflating rents all over the country. That is a very critical conversation that we have to have. We have to make them stop hiding behind those LLCs because it is destabling our neighborhoods. We are losing Big Mama's house in our communities and corporate owners are coming in, buying up our property and being absentee landlords. And that is destabling neighborhoods and black communities,

white communities, rural, suburban and urban communities. I was excited to hear about that. But also as president of AMA, one of our biggest platforms this year was around black maternal health. And as a woman who lost a child at 22 weeks and almost died on the delivery table, I was excited to hear him speak about that. Because we have to be

as concerned about a child before it's born and in utero, but as you said before in the clip that you showed, all throughout its life. And so we have to make sure that women all throughout the country have access to quality and equitable health care. We can't play with that. The education of our children, again, very, very important. We want a workforce that is prepared and trained and ready to go. Millions, trillions of dollars are coming down through the ARPA and the infrastructure acts. And we need to make sure that we are preparing a blue and green workforce in our communities.

If we're not doing that in our communities across the country, people will come from the next states and several counties over and take the money to rebuild our water infrastructure, our bridges, our roads, our tunnels. So we have to make sure that workforce development is important. And he talked clearly about a path to citizenship, right? And that is very, very important. He put it to the Republicans, the conservatives, and whatever they want to call themselves tonight.

I have a plan. You've rejected it because you want to claim to be the champions, but you're the spoilers, and I'm spoiling it. So he gave and delivered several knockout punches tonight and I was happy to see that. And I know that he is going to continue that energy. He's hitting the road. So listening to a speech is obviously different, but imagine if you have to put that together. Gavin Reynolds, a former speechwriter for Vice President Kamala Harris, knows what that is like. So, Gavin, I don't want to get your perspective on, like everybody else did, from a speech writer standpoint, I want you to speak

about how this speech was laid out and constructed and put together. Roland, thanks again for having me on the show. I mean, I do want to take a quick moment to tout the president and the job he did tonight. I'm going to get to that. I'm want to take a quick moment to tout the president and the job he did tonight. I'm going to get to that. I'm going to get to that. But I want you to speak in your lane as a speechwriter. So, again, so for the folks who don't understand, take us inside of that process of when you have trying to put something like this together and everybody and their mama wants their stuff

in it. No, you're right, Roland. Everybody and their mama does want their little thing in the State of the Union. What I can say is that the State of the Union, as you can imagine, is the biggest speech that the president will give every single year. And what that means is this speech takes quite a long time to write. We, you know, see the final product on display, but we don't see are the days, the weeks, the months that it took not only to research the speech, to draft the speech, to go over in an iterative process with the president. The president spent last weekend, like he did last year with some of

his top aides at Camp David going over the speech. And what I think a lot of people heard tonight, and I'm answering your question, Roland, I think what a lot of people heard tonight is Joe Biden and what he cares about doing, which is speaking in plain words, in plain language, in plain ways for American people to understand. He doesn't want fancy words about the economy. He doesn't want fancy words about the environment. He wants to speak directly to the issues in ways that people can understand. And so I think he's very unique in that way as a principal, in that his speechwriter is led by Vinay Reddy, who's the chief speechwriter, has been with him for a very long time. He understands the president's voice. Mike Donilon, his senior aide, known to be sort of the voice of Joe Biden. Folks like them, Anita Dunn and others who have been with the president for a very long time, they know what the president wants to say.

They know how he wants to say it as well, which I think is even more important. What I heard tonight as a speechwriter, from a structural standpoint, and some of your other guests have alluded to this tonight, rhetorically, the president was on point. I love the call and response moments that he had. There was a moment where he asked, you really think the wealthy deserve a tax break? No. And he kept sort of going back and forth. And I thought that was a really—I'm sure the Republicans said yes, but we heard the no's. It was a really powerful moment. I think at the end of his speech as well, with sort of how he tied the bow on the speech,

it was beautiful with this I see a future construction. You know, there are moments in the history of speeches in this country that have gone down in history. Oftentimes, it's from the State of the Union, whether it's the axis of evil or an all-out war on poverty, LBJ. You know, I think the president did a great job of offering at the end that I see a future, I see a future, I see a future.

And it's a future in which all Americans can see themselves. And so I think the president did an incredible job. His team, his speechwriting team did an incredible job. And we saw that on display tonight. She is always a little bit extra i'm surprised she's not doing a yoga headstand uh going live uh joining us is uh national labor and education organizer tiffany lofton uh always good to see you uh and yeah

actually sitting in a chair not just on your your head, feet dangling in the air on the side of a mountain somewhere. You know me. So Tiffany. To be clear for the record, Roland always reposts those pictures and videos and I appreciate it. You also posted that video of me eating a mango

in South Africa that then Fred Hammond ended up reposting. So I just appreciate you helping me get some followers, Roland. Hey, hey, a brother's always willing to help. Just share what was your thoughts, what you heard tonight. Roland, I'm not even sure you want me here, brother, for real. Listen,

and I never, never, never thought I would say I don't feel the same as Dr. Greg Carr, who I immensely respect and love deeply. I did not think that Joe Biden's performance tonight, that his energy tonight was anything different from what we've already seen. And I know that is a really big talking point for a lot of folks who have spoken before me about his age and how he brought the energy. I actually didn't think he did anything different than he already did. And I also still think he's too old. So that's the first piece. I don't want to conflate that

his energy or his enthusiasm or how he was able to clap back at hecklers, which there were too many of them tonight, is what we were reflecting on when we're saying that he's disconnected. For a lot of folks who are 34 and younger, the students that I work with in Ohio and California and Arizona and New York and Florida and in Nevada, folks are talking about how disconnected this president is from young people. Now, let me say this first. He mentioned and said everything that I hoped he would have said. There is nothing in my list, okay, that I think he missed. I looked through my notes and I said, actually, he covered everything I thought he wanted to cover. If we

were playing bingo, he would have won. I do think that there is a piece that is missing in this conversation, and Roland, you bring the flavor, so I'm going to say this loud and clear here because it needs to be said now. Organizers and activists have pushed this president. A lot of what Joe Biden talked, President Joe Biden talked about tonight is because activists, organizers and young people have been pushing this administration to be on the right side of history and to do something about the issues that they care about the most. And I want to be also very clear that calling for a ceasefire for six weeks is not a ceasefire. It is a pause. Joe Biden articulated, he surprised me tonight. I thought that he never really understood what was happening with Palestine. And tonight he demonstrated I was wrong. He clearly said the famine, the danger, the blowing up of homes and houses, the starvation, the killing of innocent people, all of that, he sees it. He knows what's going on. Giving folks food and calling for a temporary

ceasefire is not the solution to that. In addition, I have been working on student loan debt cancellation for 12 years, Roland. You know this because you met me when I was in the U.S. as a student leader, president of the National Student Organization, and I'm still doing that work now in coalition with the Debt Collective. Four million people is historical, and we are claiming the victory because Joe Biden at one point didn't even believe in student loan debt cancellation, and I am proud that we have been able to move him to get here, right? This is our president. But there are 43 million people with student loan debt in the United States of America. Four million is only nine percent of the 43 million.

I think about this conversation with credit card debt and the penalties. My question is, why do we have so many people taking out penalties for late credit card debt in the first place? It's because things are too expensive and we don't have a higher minimum wage. We do have people who are not able to afford these things. And so I just felt like it was a little disconnected. There were certain things that I'm glad he said, but I was really embarrassed that we're even talking about in America. Like the fact that we have a bunch of people trying to legislate women's choice. I was hurt watching this, not because of Joe Biden, but because I'm mad that we're even in a place where America is talking about a woman's choice to have a child or to not to have a child and how

divisive this conversation is. And there were certain things that he said, like Mr. Zatanis said earlier, he named that somebody was illegal, which we have been saying very clearly. We do not want to use that language, but he used it in the same sentence that he said dreamers in, which is contradictory to the movement we've been organizing. You can't say dreamers and illegal in the same sentence. That's not in the same value set system and the agenda that we are trying to build. Last thing I'll say, because I'm sure people got to respond or maybe you're going to cut me off, but let me say this. I agree with what was said earlier. Joe Biden did drop police reform. Public school teachers need to be paid more money. He did drop

the name of the person that Marjorie punked him to say. He did talk about Palestine. He did talk about a ceasefire for six weeks. He did talk about student loan debt. He did talk about the freedom to vote, the PRO Act, the federal minimum wage, but he dropped them. He didn't say plans. And I just wish

that his speech was organized a little better to talk about the things that he had accomplished thoroughly and his plan for what he wants to do. I know this was not his campaign speech, I'm very clear on that, but he talked a lot about Donald Trump in this speech and talked a lot about the differences on the aisle and I think I wish I would have had him say clearly and slower, not just name drop him so that we can hear him say police reform, because I don't know what the hell he said. He just said police reform.

I don't know what his plan is. I don't know what he's going to do, and I'm not clear on what he has done around any of those issues that he dropped in the last week. So I'm going to pull in Gavin here, because Gavin, the reality is... Oh, can I say one more thing? Can I say one more thing? Yes. Sean Fain, who stood up, who was one of the guests,

UAW president, is incredible. He's one of the first unions who called for our ceasefire as well. But if you paid attention, he was wearing a little button on his pen, and I want you to know why that's important to me. The pen said AFA, it's the Association of Flight Attendants, and we are organizing Delta flight attendants right now as we speak, 28,000 of them, and he was rocking the pen in the Capitol. So I just wanted to shout him out.

Well, good. I'm glad you shouted out Sean Fain, and so why don't you call the UAW and tell Sean Fain when he's going to come on this show, because we've been trying to get him on since January, and we've left numerous voicemails and emails, and they are not responding.

I don't have his number, but I got people who do. I will help you, yes, sir. And I reached out to one of the black folks in the executive committee just the other day, and I made clear I see him on CNN, CBS, MSNBC, ABC. It's a whole bunch of black UAW workers, and he needs to come talk to us about the work that they are doing.

Lee Saunders, AFSCME, comes over here. Lee Saunders, ask me, comes over here. Claude Cummings of CWA comes over here. Claude Cummings is my president. Other labor leaders come over here. And so, again, yes, send the word, fame. Yes, sir. Come talk to the black folk while you're talking to white media. But I want to bring Gavin in here because, Gavin,

the reality is what Tiffany talked about, everybody says that in every State of the Union speech, but the reality is no president uses a State of the Union

speech to lay out a plan. It really is sort of a series of snapshots or drive-bys, however you want to frame it,

because it's like a laundry list, correct? That's 100% right, Roland. You know, there are two goals when it comes to crafting a State of the Union address. It's one, you want to highlight your accomplishments, and two, you want to paint the vision for the future. And so, as you alluded to before in your last question, Roland, when you have so many issues that you have to make sure you get out there to communicate to your different stakeholder groups, there's only so much depth that you can go into with every single issue. But with that being said, I do

think the president was able to effectively sort of make sure, again, that the issues that polling time and time again shows that people care about, whether it's lowering health care costs or housing affordability, public education, child care, standing up for our seniors when it comes to preserving Social Security, you know, reducing gun violence, ensuring we have a fair tax code. I think the president did a really good job of making sure that he went into depth on a lot of those issues. But you're right. You know, the State of the Union is not about putting forth policy prescriptions. The State of the Union, sort of similar to a budget. Right.

It's where you as a president can lay out your values as you highlight what you've done and what you want to continue to do. Tiffany, you talked about what some of the young actors were saying, activists were saying and talked about in terms of them pushing the president. That's what they're supposed to do. And I think that's one of the things that, and I know some people may think this sounds crazy, but the reality is the election is the end of one process and it's the beginning of another. And I'm going to pull everybody into this as well because what people have to understand is that people make promises but then as FDR said to A. Philip Randolph, Philip make me do it and so and I think I think what happens for a lot of

times we just assume I never forget 2008 I did Wanda Sykes show did Monique show and they were like we did our part we voted and I was like no no, no. Maybe that process over now. Now it's the first part. So we talk about a student debt. And so you're right. But one hundred and forty billion dollars has been forgiven. It's nine percent. But I also remind people that's one hundred and forty billion more than any Republican wanted to forgive. And so if we got 9%, and this is what I've said to a couple of people, several people, I said, if you got $140 billion in the first term, then if they get reelected, it's more billions to go after. If Trump gets reelected in November, there's no money being forgiven. And I wouldn't be shocked if they try to claw back some of that 140 billion that Biden forgave.

And so we have to remind people, activists, civil rights groups and others. Our job is to force them, to push them, to prod them, to make them uncomfortable, to do the things that they may not want to do. I know you're going to go to the room. My comment was so that we actually did the reverse, so that we didn't appreciate Biden and give him all of his flowers for things that we said he had done with ignoring the work that activists

and protesters and disruptors and organizers have done. That was my comment. Not that I know it's not my job, because I made a full-time career out of this and I've been doing it for 12 years. But that we cannot just give Biden his flyers. We have flyers. We have to say, Biden, you did these things

because us, we have been pushing him to do those things. Well, and I think what's necessary, and I'm bringing everybody else in here, what's necessary that we have to now understand is that, again, how I look at this, I was on a panel during Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, and I remember Ellie Mistel, he said, we've lost the Supreme Court for the next 50 years. And I said, no, we didn't. And he's like, what do you mean? I said, okay. I said, let's step back from this emotional age that we're on. I said,

if Biden-Harris gets, I said, let's look at the numbers. Clarence Thomas is 75. Alito is 73. Biden-Harris gets reelected. They appointed, what, 165 federal judges. They get reelected. They're going to appoint likely another 200 federal judges, especially if Democrats keep control of the United States Senate. So that puts them now at 365. If Democrats then say, we got to win, we're in 2028, you're going to appoint another 200 judges. You're now at 530-some-odd judges. There are only 930 federal judges,

which means that you would appoint half of the federal bench. So when you have the judge in Texas on yesterday who ruled that white folks have to be served now by the Minority Business Development Agency, or the judge in Amarillo in Texas who ruled against the abortion pill, now all a sudden, you're thinking long term. And so while a lot of us think we have to get it now, the reality is I think in terms of no, how do you

hold on to power in successive years to get the things that you want? That's how I operate, Rebecca. And for me, I can't get... I let my frustration with what hasn't gotten done push and spur me to keep pushing folk, but what the last thing anybody can do is give up and say, you know what? I didn't get everything I desired,

so therefore, I'm going to sit on the couch. You know, absolutely. Absolutely. Like, I'm a voting rights activist. I push for people to go out and use their right to vote. But at the same time, there also has to be accountability. Voting is step one in a multiple process of civic engagement. It also requires active people in this country to hold their elected officials' feet to the

fire to make sure they're doing what they said they're going to do, which is why you voted for them in the first place. So yes, people have to look at this long term. Because here's the other thing. If there is a second administration with Harris—with Biden-Harris, we also know there might be one or two Supreme Court seats that come up. Because like you said, Clarence Thomas, that's a hard 75. I don't know how much longer he's going to be on that bench. So that's something

that people also have to consider. It's the other reason why people have to consider having a pro-democracy U.S. Senate. And a pro-democracy U.S. Senate means approving pro-democracy judges all across all of the circuits. So people have to think beyond just the presidential election, but they have to figure out what comes with voting for one particular person over the other. And Mustafa, what that means is, you know, as an environmental activist, it ain't always easy. And you're talking about the Senate, which means that if you're an activist out there in any area, and so beyond the presidential race, you would be thinking about making sure Sherrod Brown wins in Ohio, making sure Rosen wins in Nevada, holding on to that Gallego wins in Arizona,

making sure that Tester wins in Montana because they can't afford to lose any ground whatsoever with Manchin choosing not to run because he's scared to run in West Virginia. But that's the thing. We have to keep reminding people because we love quoting Ella Baker and Fannie Lou Hamer and

Dr. King, but I try to tell folk that stuff didn't get done in a six-month, two-year window. Right. You know, for the environmental justice side of the equation, we've been doing this work for over 40 years now, putting the pieces together, educating folks, helping folks to understand that we've got to have folks both at the local, the county, the federal, and the state level. We see in Louisiana, when you got a governor in place, when folks didn't come out and vote, all of these reforms that are now stripping away people's basic protections around clean air and clean water.

But that's because they had a strategic plan. So we have to be strategic. As activists, there is strategy that's there. We also got to understand these systems. So when I hear people talk about it, I take a look back, because everybody knows I'm tough on the president on certain things. And I look at how he's used executive orders and administrative actions inside of the agencies to get many of the things that we've been asking for for decades upon decades,

getting resources finally for us to rebuild our communities, to get clean water and get that water infrastructure that I know you've been working on. So we've got to understand the game. But the game is about us having the plan, making sure that we're getting the right people in place through the voting to be able to move the agenda, not just for a year or two years, because you look at these resources that are out there, three to five years, we know that there is an end point for those resources, so we got to re-up. Some people will understand who come from the street

when I talk about re-upping. So once we do that, we understand then that we have this cyclical set of actions that help us to begin to break down these barriers that have been in place. Tiffany, when you're having these conversations, help us to begin to break down these barriers that have been in place. Tiffany, when you're having these conversations, are you hearing frustration, as I said earlier, that more hasn't been done, or are you also hearing the frustration and, you know what, I'm giving up?

I'm definitely hearing the latter. I'm hearing people say that they're frustrated and they're giving up in the process. They don't trust the process. They don't trust, and when I say trust, I mean the voting process, the civic engagement process. I too have been organizing my first campaign since 2008 when Barack Obama ran. And I since have run three national campaigns, specific engagement and turning out voters, young voters and organizing volunteers. And the folks that I'm talking to now are just tuned out. I unfortunately spoke to a group of students who didn't even know Donald Trump was running. So we've got major stuff happening on the ground.

That's why I said earlier it just feels a little disconnected. But to your first question, no, Roland, that's not what I'm hearing. I'm not hearing that folks are not saying that he's not doing enough or that he's not doing the right thing. I'm hearing folks say that folks are not saying that he's not doing enough or that he's not doing the right thing. I'm hearing folks say that we are. A lot of times the big economic forces we hear about on the news show up in our lives in small ways. Three or four days a week, I would buy two cups of banana pudding. But the price has gone up.

So now I only buy one. The demand curve in action. And that's just one of the things we'll be covering on Everybody's Business from Bloomberg Businessweek. I'm Max Chavkin. And I'm Stacey Vanek-Smith. Every Friday, we will be diving into the biggest stories in business, taking a look at what's going on, why it matters, and how it shows up in our everyday lives. But guests like Businessweek editor Brad Stone, sports reporter

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to allow players all reasonable means to care for themselves. Music stars Marcus King, John Osborne from Brothers Osborne. We have this misunderstanding of what this quote-unquote drug thing is. Benny the Butcher. Brent Smith from Brothers Osborne. We have this misunderstanding of what this quote-unquote drug thing is. Benny the Butcher. Brent Smith from Shinedown.

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Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. That the younger folks are more liberal and progressive and don't share the same value system that Joe Biden has demonstrated. That's what I'm hearing.

And Morgan, and this is why what I've said, and I've spoken in a lot of cities recently, the largest group that demographically write down, millennials and Gen Z. I hear millennials and Gen Z. I'm sick of all these old people deciding stuff for us.

My response to them is, but you have the numbers to vote them out. But when you look in Texas, 2022, even with Beto O'Rourke running for governor, 75% of all voters 30 and under did not vote. And so what I say is, I get your frustration and anger, but if you hold power and you don't use it, that's actually on you. Yeah, I mean, you know, I live in Ohio, so I have to put a nod to what Rebecca was talking about in terms of gerrymandering, voter purging. I mean, we've had a lot of Republican tactics to depress the vote, and that has hurt the people that are least likely to vote,

young people, a lot of younger, lower-income folks, Black community, and it's intentional, right? So I don't think we can put it all on the fact that, oh, Gen Z millennials don't want to vote, and we don't teach civics anymore about what is the value of vote, when should you be voting. I am constantly educating people about what a primary is on the ground. Try to connect the dots. Yes, exactly. Why this all matters. So, but you're right.

I mean, you know, I'm a millennial, elder millennial. This is our time. We are now 40. First of all, no, no. Just say you're a millennial. Don't say, like, don't. You ain't got to say you're an elder millennial. It's a different thing.

You're a millennial. It's a different thing. If you're a millennial, you're a millennial. I knew a world before the Internet. It's a different thing. If you're a millennial, you're a millennial. I knew a world before the Internet. It's a different experience. Yes. But I did want to come back to something Tiffany said about getting to the root cause of the issues. Because when we were talking about the credit card late fees being reduced, yes, that is a downstream impact.

And it's not getting the root cause of why are people using credit cards so much. But here's the thing that I've been impressed by in the Biden administration when we're looking at economic policy, is it's complicated to get yourself out of a deep hole where we've had the federal government working against the working class for about four decades or so. That's going to take some time. And so, yes, reducing the amount of late fees we're spending, that's part of it. But it also is about worker mobility. How do you have a better negotiating position with your employer when they know that you can leave? If you're stuck in a non-compete agreement that says you can't go anywhere in the city that you live, you're not going to be able to negotiate for more wages. If you don't know how much your rent's going to be because you have a company that is using

algorithms to change rental prices all around you and landlords can take advantage of you, well, it's going to be hard to budget. It's going to be hard to get ahead. And you might have to go to your credit card more often. These are cases that are being brought or that the DOJ in this administration is supporting going after that algorithmic price fixing. We have Jennifer Abruzzo, not a household name by any means, but who is the general counsel

at the National Laborers Relations Board who was appointed by President Biden to go after these non-competitive agreements. And you have the most aggressive anti- merger administration in the... I would dare say this is probably the most aggressive

since Teddy Roosevelt. There are people... Yes, it is a sea change from anything he has seen. When you hear a merger now, you can automatically hear the FTC going, nope! we ain't going to approve it. Well, you know, and one we've talked about, Kroger Albertson, just recently. I mean, you know, this company was throwing everything out there to try to make people think, don't listen to the workers who work for us that this is going to be bad.

Listen to us. We know what's great. We're going to keep your prices low and workers are going to be happy. The workers themselves are saying, Kroger's screwing us over, don't let them merge, this is going to be devastating for communities all across this country. And yeah, the FTC, in my opinion, did the right thing. They brought a case to try to block that merger. That was not a guarantee even 2015.

How do we know? Because there was a merger just like this that got approved, Safeway Albertsons. And stores closed, people got laid off, prices went up. So yeah, this has been a huge change, and I know, I understand the impatience, but when you start to see how complex some of these things work together to depress our economic conditions, you then start to get that it's going to take some while to get a new reality. Now I know Tiffany's going to comment on this, but I'm going to go to Lauren on this here.

Lauren, I also think that we have to, there are a couple of things that we also have to constantly remind people. When you talk about a 100 year pandemic, it is not easy to come out of a 100 year pandemic. And a lot of folks just assume, oh, we can snap right back. No, no, no. That's just, it's impossible. And so I go back to the financial crisis. If you go back to the financial crisis in 2008, Obama gets elected in 2009. You literally don't see us really picking up steam from that until 2013.

It was literally the entire term. If you look at the unemployment rates, the black unemployment rate was sky high in late 2011, and then you went 2012, so you got that one. But from an organizing standpoint, I also think that we're hurt by this. The NAACP is not what it used to be. Black Lives Matter,

the movement, has taken massive hits over the last several years and was targeted. And so, you do not have the same energy on the ground because I said then that the BLM

movement was our version of SNCC. That was the entry point for a lot of young people. And when they start taking so many hits, so now part of the problem that I see is we literally have a crisis among major civil rights groups because where are they? They're there. I mean, I don't know. I think we shouldn't beat up on ourselves so much. No, no, no, no.

I'm going to just say this. When you say they're there, one can be present but have no presence. Yeah, but I mean, at the end of the day, black voters, again, put Joe Biden in office. All right? Black Votes Matter did a great job in Georgia. BLM did a great job getting their agenda items in there with that racial reckoning. Now, all of a sudden, everybody's ignoring it. But that's not their fault.

They got that stuff front and center when they first got in there. The people that did reparations, you know, we used to laugh at reparations, right? Now we're talking about it like a serious, serious issue. And doing it with no money, by the way. I mean, no real money, PACs or anything like that. Obviously, the NAACP and a lot of these black civil rights organizations have been corporatized to the point where they are listening to their corporate masters and not really, you know, as active as they should be, let's say,

on things that come up all the time in the news. But, I mean, when you look at, obviously, what happened in 2020 for Joe Biden, that was all black voters. That was black voters that made that happen, that level of activism. And, you know, it worked. It happened. We made it happen. Black voters made it happen. The problem has become, I think, we have a record number of members of the black caucus. We have record numbers of black folks serving in Virginia now. You know, we have all sorts of records with regard to black elected officials. And at some point, people are going to turn around and ask, what are we getting with all these black folks in charge? Unfortunately, the way the system works is the types of candidates that get in there tend to be not the Cori Bush style or the AOC type of candidate.

They're corporatized. You know, I mean, we watched, unfortunately, I'm going to say it, we watched Jim Clyburn stop Nina Turner from getting into office. And Nina Turner is the type of person who talks about poverty, talks about types of issues that are over-indexed in the black community that the corporate Democrats don't want to talk about. And the Republicans, of course, are the same. I'm not saying that they're great people as well,

but I'm just saying that until that problem is fixed, we're going to be having these conversations again and again and again. There's a corporate power in this country that is controlling the political system. Obviously, obviously with the donations and everything else. We're watching AIPAC, by the way, target black progressive members, and no one is saying anything about it, which makes no sense.

The guy who was running for Katie Porter. And that turns off millennials, by the way. Yeah, but hell, not just even black folks. The guy who was running for Katie Porter's seat, they dropped $4.7 million against him for the woman who was running against him, and he beat it back. But what about Bowman and all these other people? That's what I'm about to say. But AIPAC is

absolutely targeting black progressives. And no one's saying anything. NAACP is not saying anything. CBC is not saying anything. Now, my grandmother's house is in Brooklyn in Jeffrey's district. I know he does have a sizable, they all have a sizable Orthodox Jewish community.

They've got to recognize that community. I get it. He did endorse Summer Lee. But they also have a sizable black community. So at some point, we have to recognize that the corporate money is making people silent when it shouldn't be. Tiffany, I'm going to go to you, I'm going to go to Greg, I'm going to go to the mayor here. The concern that I have, again, when I'm talking about organization on the ground because of turnout, our numbers keep dropping. Everything Lawrence said is right in terms of what black voters did in Georgia.

Biden loses in North Carolina by 2.5 what they did in Michigan, what they did in Pennsylvania. But my concern is that when our numbers drop from election to election to election, it makes it harder because if we actually take our numbers up, 60, 65, 70%, we literally can wipe the slate clean. We can beat folks left and right. And so part of this is, to Morgan's point, trying to get people to understand

if you connect the dots and maximize power, you can actually get the things that you want, but we got to maximize power. It's harder to get the things that we want with 38, 42, 45 percent turnout. It's a lot easier if we're turning out at 65, 70 percent. Your thoughts? My thought is this. Without a strong black infrastructure in the progressive movement, we will not have two things. We will not have that power in those numbers that you just talked about, Roland. And we will not have leadership development for the people who are

supposed to run for the office positions, people who are going to be the campaign directors of these electoral campaigns. We're not going to have new field directors. We're not going to have new leadership of the black institutions that you named. And I'm also thinking about Rainbow Push, NAACP, Urban League, Color of Change, LDF, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. Black Lives Matter, all these organizations, the transition of leadership, we lose the transition of leadership when we don't have leadership development. And when people do two things, young folks either say, I'm not messing with any of those orgs because they are kissing the blank, I know you cuss on the show, of corporations. So it feels like a conflict of values, which is what I said earlier.

So I'm not going to join the organization. Or they feel like the black organization's agenda does not align with the agenda that they have for themselves, for their community, or for their people, or for the allies that they serve. And so I think that without that black infrastructure rolling, which we are in a crisis right now, in my personal opinion, we are not going to see either of those two things, and we have to do all of that at the same time. Actually, I'm going to switch. I'm going to go to Randy, because you brought up infrastructure and development. From a corporate standpoint, corporations think that way.

I absolutely believe that organizations must think that way. There are people who have to learn, it's time for you to go. And but while you're there, you need to be developing folks. I'll say this right now and I don't care. Derek Johnson should have did all he could

to keep Tiffany at the NAACP and should have said, you will be the first female CEO of the NAACP in 10 years. Now, I'm saying that for a reason because you have to identify next generation folks and as she said, you must train them, take them through. Anybody, a member of the Sulzberger family for the New York Times, they have to work in different parts of the company.

Now they're like, now eventually you're going to be the publisher. But you've got to work in different parts of the company. We have to have that. And we can dance around this, but we have a problem right now in black organizations because what Tiffany's talking about

is not happening. That leadership development is not happening and you're going to be in a situation where in five, ten years when folks start saying, okay, I'm retired, they're going to look around and ain't going to be nobody

who's been well trained to take their place. Yes, you and Tiffany are speaking on something that I've often spoken about, that we seem to have an issue within our community of releasing and sharing. And I don't know if it's because when we do get a level of power or influence, it's been so hard, one,

that we kind of cling a little bit too tightly. And we're also a people that clings on to to tradition uh very tightly because i think that you know just our whole legacy of not having something stable to stand by we're all looking for martin luther king jr moment and feel and you're absolutely right that we need to stop that and be thinking as you said progressively where do we want to be in the future not just what's happening right now but what do we need to stop that and be thinking, as you said, progressively. Where do we want to be in the future? Not just what's happening right now, but what do we need to happen going forward? And we just need to be honest about that. I appreciate you saying that because I do believe that we

oftentimes within our community don't tell the truth. And it's difficult for us to talk about where we are flawed. And we sometimes can just hold back too much on where we are and not think about where we need to be and what needs to happen to get us there. And one of the things, Greg, that we're seeing and for folks who are watching and listening understand what

we're talking about is a political conversation because this is about how do you organize, how do you mobilize. And part of the issue, and Tiffany can attest to this, that we have a number of young activists who are in many ways loners. What I mean by that is they're operating as individuals. But Stokely Carmichael made it perfectly clear. You find any successful African-American who has been involved in movements,

he said they could not do that alone. They had to do it through an organization. So our problem is if our organizations are not accepting that role, we are having a real problem because there's going to be a leadership vacuum. Absolutely. And we know individuals don't beat institutions. And I'm glad you raised Stokely Carmichael because this government ran him out of the country. He went to his grave in Guinea saying the CIA gave him cancer. Whether it did or didn't, he died too young.

It reminds me that, you know, a lot of his comrades are still around. We saw one tonight. We saw one tonight in the person of Betty Mae Fikes. You know, having spent some time with her and Chuck Neblett and Ruthie Harris and the SNCC singers, Cordell Reagan and all them. It reminds me that they were in their 20s. SNCC went out of business over the issue of Palestine. At the 50th anniversary of SNCC, I remember we were all at Shaw for

the 50th anniversary. And Ethel Minor, we were all at Shaw for the 50th anniversary, and Ethel Minor, who is not a name that is well known, she was in charge of the SNCC newsletter, and they came out in support of Palestine after the 67 war, and their money dried up. So I think it's very important what, Lauren, what you're raising, Wesley Bell is being endorsed by the APAC committee in St. Louis to go against Cori Bush. Individuals don't beat institutions. Our movement has never been grounded in two-party politics in this country. And Tiff, I agree with you, sis. I appreciate you, you know, and I accept that as much because you know how I am. Quite frankly, bottom line, full disclosure,

I gives a damn about this settler state. Joe Biden is the one who allowed Clarence Thomas to get on the bench. I don't give a damn. You know, my name for him is the mummy. I don't give a damn about Joe Biden. But I understand that we live in this place and we got to figure out how to live. All of our movements ultimately get co-opted by a state that is anti-black. Anti-blackness is woven into the fabric of this country.

The only reason Joe Biden's talking like he's talking tonight is exactly right, Tiffany. And also, what you say, Rebecca, he was pushed to that. A. Philip Randolph, ultimately, the brotherhood of sleeping car porters, you look up now he's AFL-CIO, he gets absorbed in it. By the time Bayard Rustin nears the end of his life, he becomes hella conservative on a lot of these issues. Malcolm was never in the mainstream.

Now you got Ibram Kendi running around writing the introduction, and you got him publishing Malcolm X speeches while he's raking in millions up there in Boston. This is how capitalism works. And also people forget when Malcolm leaves the nation and was creating his own organization, he explicitly stated he was going to be working with civil rights leaders on politics. Absolutely.

In fact, right there in Selma, when Dr. King is in jail, Malcolm is down there talking with SNCC. If you talk to any of those folks, Dori Ladner, our dear sister of Joyce Ladner, who is ill now, you know, and having some health challenges, she talks all the time about the global movement of African people. And I just want to say, in that context, what the NAACP is doing, they've had that battle since their founding. Since the Spengarn brothers were working for the military intelligence division, what becomes the FBI and are snitching on Du Bois when Thurgood Marshall himself recuses himself in the Ali case. And before that, he's giving information to the FBI

because he don't trust Martin Luther King. In other words, when you're dealing with a state and two-party politics, the Democratic Party is trying to hold together a coalition. Ironically, the thing that they are trying to hold together, namely those voters in the suburbs and exurbs who they want to attract and who they have attracted increasingly to kind of counterbalance the fact that we live

in a white nationalist society that is rigged to be that way, perfect in terms of the founding fathers who could not have predicted how effective the electoral college would be. White nationalists are baked into the electoral politics, so they're trying to nip away just enough to counterbalance the nebraskas and the iowas and the north and south dakotas and so they whistle past the graveyard when it comes to us who would never supposed to be voting in the first place because they assume we don't have anywhere else to go we pragmatically approach this very similarly

but if you ask these young people what tiffany what you're saying, sister, you've rung the alarm bell. They're not going to vote. Tonight, we saw Rashida Tlaib crying as Biden was mentioned in Palestine. And there next to her, AOC is comforting her. Rashida Tlaib sits in John Conyers' seat. There's a lot of black people who voted noncommitted. I'm going to vote uncommitted in Maryland if I have that option to make. I don't give a damn

about Joe Biden, but when it comes time for the general election, I'm going to pull the lever for Biden. Why? Because I understand I've got to live in this funky settler state, and we have to work it out. And so, Mayor, I think that is the conundrum that people are in. And I think

and this is, when we have these conversations, so like I always crack up when these people go, oh, there you go, Roland, you shilling for the Democrats. I'm like, no. I'm playing chess. I have to, there's that scene in Who's Searching for Bobby Fischer

when Ben Kingsley tells a young boy, he said, read the board. And he says, I can't see it. He said, fine, let me help you. And he knocks all the chips off the floor. He said, now read the board. He was trying to get him to see the moves without the pieces being on there.

As a black man, there is no way in the world I could see the moves. A lot of times the big economic forces we hear about on the news show up in our lives in small ways. Three or four days a week, I would buy two cups of banana pudding. But the price has gone up, so now I only buy one. The demand curve in action. And that's just one of the things we'll be covering

on Everybody's Business from Bloomberg Businessweek. I'm Max Chavkin. And I'm Stacey Vanek-Smith. Every Friday, we will be diving into the biggest stories in business, taking will take you inside the boardrooms, the backrooms, even the signal chats that make our economy tick. Hey, I want to learn about VeChain. I want to buy some blockchain or whatever it is that they're doing. So listen to Everybody's Business on the iHeartRadio app,

Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I know a lot of cops, and they get asked all the time, have you ever had to shoot your gun? or wherever you get your podcasts. called this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser told them. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multibillion-dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season 1, Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad it's really really really bad

listen to new episodes of absolute season one taser incorporated on the iheart radio app apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts binge episodes one two and three on may 21st and episodes four five and six on june 4th and Episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th. Ad-free at Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I'm Clayton English. I'm Greg Glod. And this is Season 2 of the War on Drugs podcast. Yes, sir. We are back.

In a big way. In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives. This has kind of star-studded a little bit, man. We got Ricky Williams, NFL player, Heisman Trophy winner. It's just a compassionate choice to allow players all reasonable means

to care for themselves. Music stars Marcus King, John Osborne from Brothers Osborne. We have this misunderstanding of what this quote-unquote drug thing is. Benny the Butcher. Brent Smith from Shinedown. Got B-Real from Cypress Hill.

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

Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. I can't see the board and not look at Project 2025. That's right. And realize what that, no, Tiffany, it's okay.

It's all right. You ain't got to cover your mouth. What that is going to do to us. Because a lot of black people don't understand that African-Americans over-indexing government jobs. When Republicans run for office and they say cut government, they're cutting black people's jobs. Project 2025 has said they're going to demand loyalty oaths. If you do not plead loyalty to MAGA,

they're going to fire you. They are, they gonna walk in targeting black people. What a lot of black people also don't realize, because we got frozen out of corporate America, we over-indexed on high five and six-figure jobs in government. So what people don't understand is that when the housing crisis hit in 2007 and 2008, they first saw it in largely black suburban neighborhoods where teachers and city workers and firefighters and police officers

worked and then they couldn't make their payments. They're still losing government jobs. So I'm not crazy. I'm going, wait a minute. They enact this here. They're going to wipe out a whole slew of black people from government jobs, which now will cause home foreclosure crisis, which causes losing more debt. And so we have to, to your point, Morgan, how we must connect the dots. We got to walk people through this to say, this ain't no simple one thing. I can't, I ain't gonna vote because of this. No, no, no. There's a whole domino effect that's going to come, that's going to happen if these folks

get back in office because trump just doesn't want to get prosecuted the rest of these people they're going they're going to use that power and they're going to destroy a bunch of stuff including us so so my daughter is 32 she lives in brooklyn right and and she's her degree, and her friends have their degree, and many of them are waiting to have kids or have decided they're not having kids, and they're frustrated. They're very, very frustrated with the politics of the country.

They're frustrated that they don't feel like they're being heard. So I hear what my sister is saying. I hear that every day. But I also know in my community, as a 55-year-old woman who was the first to get a second term in my community as a 55-year-old woman who was the first to get a second term in my community in 20 years, my chief of staff is 33, my director of comms is 35, my executive assistant is 21, my DPW commissioner running the third largest department in my city and overseeing infrastructure is 35 as well. We have to engage our young people. We cannot keep

telling them that, well, look, the boogeyman is here, so you have to do this. That cannot be the speeches that we give them over and over again. I've looked in my community and communities surrounding me, the NAACP, the church, black organizations, civic organizations, they're not engaging our young people and our young professionals at the level that they need to. The toughest cottage party that I had was with young professionals under the age of 35. They said, you're running. I want to know how our children are going to be educated. I want to buy a home in this community. I want to make sure that I'm able to take care of my family. They're not just saying, I want to turn up and travel. They're saying, I want to have the

American dream. And I'm tired of being told that I have to wait. We've been telling young people to stay in their place and to stay in line for far too long, and they are starting to tap out. We have to find a way to re-engage them. They're looking right now like it's a tag. I grew up on wrestling, and remember tag team wrestling? They're looking at America in the ring, and they are saying, we're losing. Tag us in. We have energy. The Bible says they called the old because they knew the way and they called the young because they were strong. And I believe there is a good combination of that, but we can have ideas and we can have visions and dreams,

but we have to have our young people also working beside us because they are strong and they will run that race and they will run it to the end. We cannot continue to tell them to sit at the children's table like we did when we were growing up for Thanksgiving. You can't sit here at the adults table, but y'all go sit over there. Y'all go take a seat in the living room. We need them. We have to actively pursue them, but not just for show.

It has to be not superficial representation. We have to sacrifice some of the things that we're doing to make sure that their voices are heard. We have to lift them up. I'm going to get a final comment from Gavin, then Tiffany, then Mustafa. Gavin, go. Yeah, Mayor, I think what you were saying just now

really resonated with me as a 26-year-old former speechwriter to the vice president, as a 26-year-old black man in this country to have had the opportunities that I've had to be in the rooms where the decisions have been made, to have a front seat to leadership. I want to raise, I want to tip my hat to the vice president. As you were talking, I thought about, and I'm not sure if you all are familiar, but the vice president went on a nationwide tour, spent a month traveling this nation on what she called a fight for our freedoms college tour. She went to A&T. She went to Hampton. She went to Morehouse. She traveled this country. Why? Because she and because the

president recognized that the young people, the people of my generation, we are the future leaders of this country. And I think one issue that I think a lot about, and this goes to the point that others were making on the point of control, we see that Black history is under attack. The teaching of Black history is under attack. Why is that? It's because the other side knows that if they can't erase the terrible things from our country's past, at least they can do is erase it from our history books. And why does that matter? Because it means that the young people growing up, our future leaders, are going to be taught

and are not going to be taught about slavery. They're going to be taught that enslaved people derived benefit and skills from being enslaved. They're going to be taught that the Civil War wasn't taught over slavery. And what are the ramifications of that? The ramifications of that is that those young leaders are going to grow up and they have no conception of the terrible things that have been in our nation's past.

And therefore, they're going to be unaware of what they have to do to make our nation better moving forward. And so I think I've seen this vice president, I've seen our president get it on investing in our young people. The vice president talks all the time about the relay race of history that we're in. She's received the baton from the generation above her. She's running her race now. But she even knows that as she runs, she can hand off that baton to my generation right

now that we will run our race well, and then we'll hand it off to the generation after. And so the last thing I'll say, tying it back to the speech tonight, others have said this, this is the beginning of, you know, really this election season. I think we're going to see the president and, you know, the vice president, the cabinet members,

as you were saying earlier, Roland, hit the road tomorrow, this weekend, and moving forward. And I would not be surprised if you see them going and engaging with a lot of young people because they recognize, again, that young people are the future,

not only of this electorate, but are the future of our party and the future of our nation. Gavin, I appreciate it. Thanks a lot. Tiffany, your final comment. My final comment is this. I've been on your show many, many, many, many, many times now through multiple election cycles, and I will say that not only is your space the most seasoned,

but it's actually the safest space for black people to have this discussion every single time. There is no other space online that I have ever found in my entire life, and I'm only 34, that is as safe and intergenerational and diverse as the conversation we were able to have today. So again, always much love to you for holding this space. I have three big takeaways, and I surprisingly have a quote that I want to use that Joe Biden said tonight. So mind blown. Okay, here we go. One, I want us to continue to push Biden. That's the message for tonight. We got to continue to push them. We got to give organizers and activists a lot of love because they are exhausted. And people have already said it.

We've been working year after year after year to push everybody to be told that we got to get pieces of it because the issues are deep. But we just want to get to a place where we can be free. Two, we want to invest in young people. We had that conversation tonight. It's super important. And three, we want to continue to build power. And that is either through the institutions that exist now or maybe we've got to continue to build some new ones. But however it happens, we're not going to win or get free if we don't have strong institutional power and we don't work together. And Joe Biden's quote tonight, I'm going to remix it a little bit. He said, we can either fight about it or we can fix it.

And I've always been, as an Aries black woman, of the mindset that we can fix it. And there goes my selfie light. Good night, everybody. Timmy Lofton, I appreciate it. Thanks a bunch. Mustafa. There's a quote that says, a system cannot fail those it was never meant to protect.

Our system was never meant to protect black folks. Our system was never meant to protect women. Our system was never meant to protect young people. So if we understand the dynamics of the system that we're operating in, then that's where strategy comes in. That's where when Tiffany talked about power, making sure that we're building real power. How do we build real power in this country? One, it is through actually mobilizing and organizing, which is something that we often get away from.

You mentioned earlier about these institutions that we have traditionally relied on to actually be able to bring us together. So the question becomes, in the leadership that currently exists in there, if we understand that it's not meeting the moment, then we have a responsibility to make sure we do get the right leaders inside of there because those organizations have been of value

to our communities. So that means that we have some responsibility. If we are not a part of those, then we need to get engaged to make sure that we're getting the right people forward. We make sure that we are supporting young people so that they can assume those leadership roles. How does that happen? That means that, one, we have to create space, but we also got to make sure that we are giving

them the tools and resources and the mentoring that's necessary for them to be successful. Because it's not just about having any individual, man, woman, or youth taking over. It is about making sure that we are properly preparing them and then we are supporting them to be successful. Because we understand with misinformation, we understand with the slings and arrows that are going to come with anybody who's in a leadership position who is trying to push for real change and trying to make sure that there is a system that is actually equitable,

a system that actually has fairness and equality and justice built into it, that you're going to take some hits for that. So we've got to make sure that we are bringing this beloved community, as Dr. King used to talk about, to surround those individuals in that moment. The other part of it is what my grandmother says. She says, you have power unless you give it away. We've got to understand what power actually looks like in this country, how we grow it out,

how we hold onto it, and how we utilize it, and not just see it as something that is easily disposable. So that means that for young people, helping them to understand what does real power look like, what are those examples where it worked, and where is your innovation and ingenuity come into this space to actually make sure that it fits the 21st century. Because everything that worked in 1960 or 1950 is not going to work in 2024. But there will be elements that are there.

And for me, it is all about making sure that we no longer fund our own demise. Because we got so many folks who will go and give their dollars to things that are not beneficial for our community, and then ask the question, why are we finding ourselves in this space where everything seems to be falling apart? Well, we are playing a role in that.

So that for me is a part of that power dynamic. And we have the opportunity, we have the ability to build authentic collaborative partnerships. You know, when the president was talking about his programs and the steps that he has moved forward on, and I appreciate Tiffany bringing in that in many instances, you're moving and doing these things

because there are folks from the front lines who have pushed you for decade upon decade upon decade. This is an opportunity for us to build real coalitions, but there has to be authenticity in those coalitions. And if we do that, I think that we can actually make the transformative actions that we have to have, because climate change is not going away. Black folks are going to still die from breathing dirty air and getting hit with these types of things.

Black maternal health, unless we get engaged, sisters are going to continue to lose their lives. So it is all about us actually having this real strategic plan and understanding our power. Frat, I appreciate it. Thanks a bunch. Folks, going to take a quick break. Come back. Pastor Jamal Bryan is going to join our panel. And the question I'm opposed to everybody here, and I want you to think about during the break is, what's next you're watching roller martin unfiltered in our state of our union 2024 coverage right here on the black star network you hatred on the streets a horrific scene a white nationalist rally that descended into deadly violence violence. White people are losing their damn minds.

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

America, there's going to be more of this. There's all the Proud Boys guys. This country is getting increasingly racist in its behaviors and its attitudes because of the fear of white people. The fear that they're taking our jobs, they're taking our resources, they're taking our women. This is white fear. A lot of times the big economic forces we hear about on the news show up in our lives in small ways. Three or four days a week, I would buy two cups of banana pudding. But the price has gone up, so now I only buy one. The demand curve in action.

And that's just one of the things we'll be covering on Everybody's Business from Bloomberg Businessweek. I'm Max Chavkin. And I'm Stacey Vanek-Smith. Every Friday, we will be diving into the biggest stories in business, taking a look at what's going on, why it matters, and how it shows up in our everyday lives. But guests like Business Week editor Brad Stone,

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

Sometimes the answer is yes. But there's a company dedicated to a future where the answer will always be no. Across the country, cops called this taser the revolution. But not everyone was convinced it was that simple. Cops believed everything that taser told them. From Lava for Good and the team that brought you Bone Valley comes a story about what happened when a multi-billion dollar company dedicated itself to one visionary mission. This is Absolute Season One, Taser Incorporated. I get right back there and it's bad. It's really, really, really bad. Listen to new episodes of Absolute Season One, Taser Incorporated, on the iHeartRadio app,

Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge episodes 1, 2, and 3 on May 21st, and episodes 4, 5, and 6 on June 4th. Ad And this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast. We are back. In a big way. In a very big way. Real people, real perspectives. This is kind of star-studded a little bit, man. We got Ricky Williams, NFL player, Heisman Trophy winner.

It's just a compassionate choice to allow players all reasonable means to care for themselves. Music stars Marcus King, John Osborne from Brothers Osborne. We have this misunderstanding of what this quote-unquote drug thing is. Benny the Butcher. Brent Smith from Shinedown. Got B-Real from Cypress Hill. NHL enforcer Riley Cote. Marine Corvette.

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

subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. Gain in-demand job skills with flexible online training programs designed to put you on the fast track to jobs in high-growth fields. No experience is necessary. Learn at your own pace. Complete the online certificate program on your own terms. Stand out to employers, get on a path to in-demand jobs and connect with top employers who are currently hiring. Take one professional career certificate program or all six. Earn a Google career certificate to prepare for a job in a high-growth field like data analytics, project management,

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The United States is the most dangerous place for a woman to give birth among all industrialized nations on the planet. Think about that for a second. That's not all. Black women are three times more likely to die in this country during childbirth than white women. These healthcare systems are inherently racist. There are a lot of white supremacist ideas and mythologies around black women, black women's bodies,

even black people that we experience pain less, right? Activist, organizer, and fearless freedom fighter, Monifa Akinwole-Bandele from Moms Rising joins us and tells us this shocking phenomenon, like so much else, is rooted in unadulterated racism. And that's just one of her fights. Monifa Bandile on the next Black Table, here on the Black Star Network. On the next Get Wealthy with me, Deborah Owens, America's Wealth Coach,

I'm sure you've heard that saying that the only thing guaranteed is death and taxes. The truth is that the wealthy get wealthier by understanding tax strategy. And that's exactly the conversation that we're going to have on the next Get Wealthy, where you're going to learn wealth hacks that help you turn your wages into wealth. Taxes is one of the largest expenses you ever have. You really gotta know how to manage that thing and get that under control so that you can do well.

That's right here on Get Wealthy, only on Black Star Network. What's up everybody? It's your girl Latasha from the A. And you're watching Roland Martin Unfiltered. All right, folks. Welcome back to our Black Star Network. State of our union coverage.

We are about to, this is our last segment. We kicked this thing off at 8 o'clock. It's been one hell of a night. We've had some amazing guests, you know, three attorney generals on the show, the lieutenant governor of Michigan, of course, the house speaker in Pennsylvania, the House Speaker in Virginia, State Senator in Pennsylvania, Mayor in Birmingham. We've had multiple mayors. We had folks, a couple of people, they were like,

man, I got early flights. I'm like, I'll let you go ahead and go to sleep. Don't worry about it. I said, we'll get you tomorrow. So I'm going to throw this out. Anybody can jump on. First of all, we're joined by Pastor Jamal Bryant, Newborn Missionary Baptist Church out of Atlanta.

I told him during the break, it's rare. I'm going to swap Alpha out with Kappa, but I have mercy. This is a nonpartisan conversation. Oh, yeah. This is a nonpartisan conversation, but this is the

house of Alpha, so let's just be clear. You were at the Capitol. Yes. What was it like? Your thoughts on tonight? Just anything you got on your mind? Yeah, most arresting for me, first, thank you for being a voice for black people,

giving us an opportunity to amplify our thoughts. Hold on, hold on, Your mic not on. Really? Really? Dammit, how is mic not on, Steven? How's it not on? As long as it wasn't me. See, these dadgum cappers. See what happened? The alpha mic was working.

See, the alpha mic was working. Alright, we good now? Alright, go ahead. I first wanted to thank you for giving a stage for Black Thought in consideration, not as an afterthought. I was really overwhelmed because I sat next to a Palestinian family

who were collectively holding their breath, waiting to hear what was going to be said. And to see tears coming down their eyes after 30,000 senseless deaths, an unnecessary bombing, to hear some reprieve gave a collective sigh for them. And so to live through that experience

with people who are going through oppression was really a heart-gripping moment. I was disappointed, however, Roland, that we heard nothing about the Sudan. We heard nothing about Haiti. We heard nothing about Congo. And so while the Ukraine and Palestine are critical issues, they are not the only global issues. And so I thought that with a strong Congressional Black Caucus, I would hear more

about the diaspora and the needs for support out of it. We were talking about organizations, when Tiffany Lofton was on, we were talking about leadership development, and I keep walking people through that the old model of black, reach the black vote is gone. It's gone. It was civil rights groups, black churches, and the reality. We talked about this with Black Lives Matter movement.

That was the first movement of African-Americans and American history that was not led by the church. And COVID hits, and we're seeing folk who, they ain't even going to physical buildings, they ain't even going to churches, they all go online. And so there's a much broader disconnect. What are you seeing and hearing? Are you seeing pastors engage in this political world? Do they understand what's going on? Are they mobilizing

and organizing? Because I keep hearing folks say we're going to do stuff, but the only thing that gets organized is the news conference. Right. Well, sitting from the gallery, the most significant shift looking onto the floor is that the overwhelming majority of black leadership is now black women. And I think that really to answer that question, we have to let the women be the quarterback and really throw the ball. I think too many of us are in the huddle and we don't know the play. When black women have been the most consistent voting bloc for the last 20 years, I think that the sisters really have to give us

some instruction on how to move. The reality is, whether she won or not, Stacey Abrams registered more people to vote in Georgia post-reconstruction of anybody. And so I think that the men really need to listen and not talk as much this election cycle and give us some insight. We're about seven months out.

What's next? Anybody? Anybody can kick it off. What's next? What's next is that we hit the streets, right? You know, I tell people never be confused by my pearls and my pumps because I put on hoodies and Tims.

Come on. And I hit the streets. We have to hit the streets and organize. We have to be able to talk about the gains even that the black community has made. Yes, 15 million jobs, 2.8 million of those jobs went to black Americans.

You know, black-owned businesses have increased more rapidly than any time in the last 30 years. Black wealth has gone up 60% since the pandemic. We have a long way to go. People can't feel it all at the kitchen table yet, but we need consistency and leadership so that we can begin to feel it.

$140 billion in school loans forgiven. Black home ownership. They're dealing with, looking at Navy Federal Bank, which has approved 75% of white mortgages and now, but they've turned down 50% of black mortgages, mortgage requests.

Even when $62,000 was the average household income for white people who were applying for those mortgages and being approved, where it was $140,000 was the average household income for white people who were applying for those mortgages and being approved, where it was $140,000 for black families that were being denied. And so I believe it is going to be the Biden administration who is going to push and investigate that. Our Congresswoman Waters has already called for congressional hearings around that. And so Trump is not going to talk about that. We have to let people know that we cannot be single-issue voters.

Now, while we have to continue to push our single issues, we cannot allow those single issues to keep us at home. Republicans know how to fall in line. We as Democrats want to fall in love. And you don't even love the people who you sleep with every night. You don't love the people in your fraternities and sororities, but you still show up to meetings, right? So there's not going to be a perfect, there's not going to be a perfect candidate, but we know who is the antithesis of everything that we stand for and everything that we need to make progress.

So yes, we can have the protest votes during the primaries, but when it comes time to show up, we need to show up or shut up, right? And then the other thing, succession leadership has to happen. We have to invest in our young people. If we don't tap them in, they're going to tap out and no one will be to blame but us. We cannot fear what they're bringing to the table. We have to make sure that all voices are included and that in our message, people feel that they're being heard. But then at the same time,

we have to be careful about watering down the message and trying to be apologetic and like homogenizing it like milk because then it speaks to no one. Then it speaks to no one, so we have to speak to the issues, and we have to speak clearly and unapologetically while we are building the coalition.

Randy, there's a lot of folks who obviously are focused on economics, businesses starting, but black folk, better understand, I wrote about this in my book, White Fear, they're coming after every program. Supreme Court ruled against affirmative action. A Texas judge ruled yesterday that whites have to be

a part of the Minority Business Development Agency. They're suing the Fearless Fund. I've made it clear, there's not a program in America at a college or a corporate entity that is a pathway for black folks and others that is not going to be attacked. Folk better understand who those people are. And they are Republican, Republicans and MAGA. It's critical.

What's happening right now is critical. And what's interesting is that people are saying, you know, this next election. What Trump did in his last election, the people he put into place, is having severe repercussions now. We saw what the Supreme Court did. We saw how they have made affirmative action essentially illegal.

What they said with that decision is that we are a colorblind, race-blind country. That we don't essentially have a history with race-mongering issues. And they're literally using the 64th Civil Rights Act and the 1866 Civil Rights Act against us. Against us. And when I tell people,

people thought this would just affect colleges. Yes, we saw the state of Florida just release 28 employees and shut down DEI programs across the board. Preschools are being sued if they said they want a diverse student body. There are lawsuits saying that goes against what they were promised. All VC funding. We know women, we get less than one per black people, less than 1% Freedom Fund sued. We talk about maternal rights in San Francisco, a program that provided money and health care

to fix the disparity between black women and white women. Shut down. Because now it's not fair. Because if you're saying that there are no issues, that there are no disparities, then it's illegal for you to create any program that fixes those disparities 8a programs when people talk about government in jeopardy in jeopardy so when i say that we are literally fighting for our ability to function

because we're already i mean those programs already were there just to fix 400 years. Right. They weren't great, but at least it was something. But it was what we had. It was all we had at this time to fix 400 years, right? And they're saying it doesn't exist. It's one thing they're wiping it away from our history books, but they're wiping it away from all of their legislation

to say we don't need it because it doesn't exist and we don't have a problem. So we have got to, we cannot be complacent this election season. There is more at risk now than I believe that there was when we were active before when Trump was running. He has nothing to hold him back now. So we have got to just get that energy back. I know we're tired, but we got to get it back.

Lauren, what's next? What's next is eight months of drama. Untold drama. The way that you know we're doing well, and I want to say we, black folks in the activist community with regard to Black Lives Matter and Black Voters Matter and what happened in Georgia, the way you know that that was a success is the way the Republican

Party is acting right now. Their desperation, they'll bring this entire thing down before seeing anybody who looks like us in charge. And they've stated that. As Greg likes to say, they've dropped all pretense. So we are going to see misinformation, disinformation. We're going to continue to see that. The lying, the craziness, the nonsense. You saw what you saw tonight. There was a member yelling. There was somebody yelling from the gallery, but there was also a member

yelling from the president. Also a member breaking the rules of the House wearing campaign material, but she don't care. Right. Exactly. And of course nobody's going to do anything about it anyway, so she's just, she can do whatever the heck she wants. But she don't care. Exactly. And of course nobody's gonna do anything about it anyway, so she's just, she can do whatever the heck she wants. But they're crazy, they're craven, they're going to get worse, and it's gonna come down to three states in my view, Georgia, Arizona, and Michigan.

President has got to fix this Middle East thing. He's gotta fix that. Okay? And I know, we know the politics. He's beholding the AIPAC. I get it. We get all of that. That's great. You got to fix that. You can't have 30,000 people get killed and not say anything and then act like it's OK and then have 100,000 people vote uncommitted in a primary. Right. You got to be kidding me. And so if he doesn't fix that, he is going to lose. I'm convinced of that because Georgia was too close.

You know, Georgia was what, 10,000 votes or something? And Arizona. Georgia and Arizona. He lost to North Carolina by 2.5. So we're going to see drama. They're going to be desperate. They've already been desperate and crazy. We all know that Barack Obama flipped them out and that's what's going to happen next. Rebecca, what's next? So I was reflecting on what Tiffany was talking about, and I was really thinking about black political power, black organizing, and just how we organize ourselves. Because it's not what we did in 64 versus what we did in 2024, but it's what we did in 94 versus 2024, what we did in 2014 versus 2024. And there's a vast gap when I think about the generational political differences between baby boomer black folks,

Gen X black folks, millennial black folks like myself, and yes, elder millennials, as well as Generation Z black folks. And those who are more tethered to the civil rights movement have a different focus. And I almost want to say that political movement, that political organizing was centered in trauma and was reacted to trauma. And I'm seeing my generation and the generation behind me, we want to center our political activism

around a place of strength. We want to build meaningful, long-lasting black power around strength. So that looks different. That's a different model. That means we organize differently. That means that we show up differently. It's the reason, like, if you do a focus group

on how black folks view tonight's speech by Joe Biden, I would say those who are more tethered to the civil rights movement would say, well, he mentioned us, so he saw us, he heard us. And my generation is, yeah, you said it, but what have you done for it? And so we want to organize from a place of strength. So even when we're thinking about secession planning with a lot of our legacy civil rights groups, we have to keep in mind that the model for organizing, there's a generational gap within the black community. And for our black communities to exist 100 years from now, it has to be rooted in strength and not just in trauma. I have a couple things.

Mike, are you mic'd up? I'm mic'd. First of all, let's just be clear. I have a couple things. Mike. You mic'd up? I mic'd. Go ahead. First of all, let's just be clear. The whole conversation around democracy is not resonating because democracy hasn't worked for black people in centuries. And so we need to pivot the conversation from talking about democracy, saving democracy, democracy is on our backs, to talking about citizenship. In Georgia, where they recently passed a bill where the police can arrest you if they suspect you of being an immigrant and there's no ramifications for them. Now, I don't know if

Kemp has signed it. We know Stacey Abrams wouldn't have signed it. I don't know what Kemp is going to do. That's a matter of citizenship. Women no longer have national citizenship if you can't have IVF in a certain state, if you can't have an abortion in a certain state, if you can't travel without the money your ass down to the next state, you are not a national

citizen. And so what we need to make people understand is that citizenship is on the ballot in 2024. The next thing, the civil war that people are looking for, they're looking for a J6, white folks losing their mind, climbing the Capitol, busting out windows. It's happening right now with Republican governors. Randy, you talked about it. We're seeing what they're doing with the power that they have that is stripping us of our citizenship, stripping women of their rights, stripping us of our right to vote, of our rights to keep people that we've elected in their positions, Ron DeSantis in Florida with the state's attorney that he's removing, Greg Abbott with what he's doing with the schools down there. And so people are looking for this grand gesture of Trump

being reelected or not being reelected. And we need to be fighting these battles every single day against Republicans. Next, we need to get specific. And I liked what President Biden did tonight. He had the receipts. He was able to talk policy accomplishments where we're going. That's what we need to be talking about. And the last thing I would say is that we need to be investing in thought leaders instead of platforming parents. Thank you. We have a lot of parents. We have a lot of people with the platforms to get up there and say,

will black folks feel this and black folks feel that? Yes. But are we going to move the needle with how black folks feel and connecting the dots with what is at stake, what has been done and where we got to go? And so that's where the onus is on the Democratic Party to not be passive and who's

being platformed, not being passive and who has the ear to the people and not be passive and coming to talk to us and waiting to be on MSNBC every quarter, every six months, and then they shoot out a newsletter, look, I was on MSNBC.

Come talk to the black folks. Then you will have the credibility and so then people won't be like, we ain't seen you. We don't know what you're doing. You ain't doing nothing for us. So you got to invest in our apparatuses and invest in the people that are going to tell people, I know that's how you feel, but let's talk about

what's been done and let's talk about what's on the line with Trump, with Mike Johnson, don't forget, and with all these Republican governors because we have a lot on the line. The general election Mike Johnson, don't forget, and with all these Republican governors, because we have a lot on the line. The general election is now. I still want you to go out and understand the primary assignment, but look, Trump is the nominee.

It's Biden or Bush. Nobody with any kind of sense is going to jump in at this point, get over it. He's old, but he's our nominee. Let's move on, and let's win this thing, period. Morgan said she ain't stay up this late, and I don't know how long. Morgan need to get out more, hang out with this crew.

Morgan, what's next? So tonight was the beginning of the campaign. I mean, we've said it a few times. And President Biden... A lot of times the big economic forces we hear about on the news show up in our lives in small ways. Three or four days a week, I would buy two cups of banana pudding.

But the price has gone up, so now I only buy one. The demand curve in action. And that's just one of the things we'll be covering on Everybody's Business from Bloomberg Businessweek. I'm Max Chavkin. And I'm Stacey Vanek-Smith. Every Friday, we will be diving into the biggest stories in business, taking a look at what's going on, why it matters, and how it shows up in our everyday lives.

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

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

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It really does. It makes it real. Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs podcast season two on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear episodes one week early and ad-free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. Biden presented what he views as his top accomplishments, his case for why he should continue. And I completely agree with something

we've been talking about that, and it's our job to decide, do we agree? Do we want more people who organize? Are you going to push for more? And then those of us who understand those accomplishments and agree that they are accomplishments, that translation exercise

and putting a lot of energy into connecting these dots because a lot of this stuff, who has the time to follow it and be in the weeds and all of this. So I put myself in that category, but I think a lot of us are in that category too, and it's pedal to the metal to make those connections. The other point about how we increase turnout and this intergenerational connectivity, I think is crucial. And I offer

as a point of hope and an example that's positive from Columbus, Ohio, where I live, is that we're going to have our first ever black prosecutor for Franklin County, where Columbus is, in history by November. We have three black Democrats in the primary. And a lot of us realize, both in the organizing community, in the more electoral, political community, and in our faith communities, that this was an important moment. And we needed to come together and make sure that everybody knew what was going on. And so we took Bishop Washington, who's the Bishop of Mount Hermon Baptist Church in Columbus, Ohio. He offered us his space for free. We brought together our local NCNW chapter, National Council of Negro Women, and they came

out in force to support this forum. And then we had our organizers that have been part of all the different movements that we've talked about tonight. They're also part of turning people out. People think young people don't engage people exactly as the mayor was saying. They engage in things that feel like they matter, that they are going to be heard. And that was a lot of young people under 25 that helped us pull off that forum with no money, no budget, because they know that this matters. And so it is possible. We have to recognize that we all have strengths that we're bringing to the table and put that energy in to getting over some of our biases and working together because we really don't have any time to waste on that front.

Erica. Yeah, I love what everyone just said. And just to piggyback off of what Morgan just said and what I said earlier, it really is about the ground game. And so what we're seeing from the administration, because the campaign is now, but we've been seeing it for the past couple of months of them being very, very cheeky, making sure that they get their lick back on social media. They're going to have to continue to do that off election year. It is time to invest in the ground game and that those organizers came together

to put together an event for that. They should be paid to do that. This conversation that we're having is a conversation that needs to continue into 2025, 26, 27. This conversation that we're having is a conversation that needs to continue into 2025, 26, 27. Those people that are on the ground, that know how to move people, that know how to speak the language

to break down the minutia of the legalese language, and as the late Joe Madison said, and that we've said here, give it to where the goats can get it, then we can see a more robust, more informed, not this whole low-information voter.

They have not been engaged. The second part that I'll say is that yesterday, I participated at a lobby day around brain injury awareness. A lot of you all know I sustained a traumatic brain injury three years ago that took me out of work, took me out of politics. Bringing that forward, if we do fund, make sure that those organizers

have money, they can teach our people how to organize so that they can be on the hill in March to make sure that their areas of interest, the social determinants of health are affecting our community, that are affecting all of us here in the United States. Make sure that those things are line items so that those legislators know that, no, no, no, no, no, it's not just MAGA, we're here too. And we're here to make sure that things around sickle cell, making sure that the, what was it, the treatment that they have for sickle cell that is super expensive. A lot of black scientists are excited about it, making sure that that gets down to a demonstrative number so that black people who are largely affected by sickle cell disease can actually get the treatment and live longer.

It is about longevity. And to Rebecca's point, it is really about not only addressing the trauma so that we can go to a place of strength, but actually thrive from that place. So what we're doing now has to continue moving forward. Jamal? I think we've really got to go back to the model left by Meg Evers, not just voter registration but voter education first, why it is that we're voting.

And all of the data has come back to just proffer your only option is against Trump, is not a mobilizer. But we've got to see what are the options and what are the opportunities. And so while public schools are taking away civic class, I think that our faith communities are going to have to be more involved and engaged of talking about why politics are local, what it means for the district attorney as Ben Crump champions, why Negroes got to show up for jury duty,

really, why we got to run for the school board. All of those things are important. It is not just a top election, but really just dealing with those state elections as well and what that really means for us in those local elections. Great. Thank you, Roland. And I want to add, I think we all are feeling and saying,

and you said it, Pastor Bryant, our brother Pastor Bryant, that the Black Star, this is what makes this the most important media platform we have because this intergenerational conversation, what Tiffany said, is so true. It's not duplicated anywhere. So that's first of all. Yeah, those Negroes,

those American Negroes in the District of Columbia who will be called to serve on the jury that's going to put Donald Trump in jail, to echo you again, brother, when you get that letter, because that's the trial that's going to blow up America, to echo what Lauren said, because that trial will maybe be decided before the election. The Supreme Court did its best on

Monday. And it was interesting watching Sonia Sotomayor sit there looking down because the court watchers speculate that it was her who drafted the, it really wasn't a concurrence. It really was a dissent. The only thing they agreed with is that you can't keep him off the ballot. But in everything else, when you read that, as you all discussed it here, Sotomayor wrote a dissent. And Kagan and KBJ joined her. Amy Comey Barrett, irrelevant.

The point is this. Education. I couldn't echo you again, brother. Education is the key this platform between now and november i'm thinking about the black table we got to get that started because it's like every week we got to this has to be the place that links these generations through education yeah because we fought this fight before and every victory we've had every loss we've had that we can learn from we now need to stitch them together for 200 years because you're right it's not going to work now like it did in the 60s the 1860s for that matter the 1930s but we have to stitch it together um according to

media reports and there's a photograph of Biden staying there as they were turning the lights out he stayed for another 25 minutes on the floor. And two of the people standing there were Barbara Lee and Andre Carson. So I expect you'll probably talk to one or both of them before today is before it's time tomorrow. I want to know what Joe Biden was still standing there having this conversation with them at over that time, because he has been pushed and he's going to have to continue to be pushed. The misinformation will continue. And I'll end with this. Yes, New York. Yes, Georgia. We know because he has been pushed and and he's going to have to continue to be pushed the misinformation will continue and I'll end with this yes New York yes Georgia we know that he can't escape those if

he gets convicted there fine you're trying to take Fannie Willis out but it's not going to stop what's going to happen to you but those two federal cases Florida documents for sure but it's going to be that case the Supreme Court tried to hem and haw around when Jack Smith told them can you rule in December they waited until this this month. Last Monday, that opinion comes out, and it's very clear what's going on. They'll probably rule by June. The trial will get scheduled, and we might have a convicted felon running for the president of the United States. And if we think it's wild now, this is nothing compared to what October is going to look like. So we need this platform more than ever because people are going to be looking for some clear

water and it needs to be poured here. So let me thank all of you and everybody who participated. When I conceived this, even when I was back on CNN, I always hated when we did these particular nights because I hated how the conversation went. In fact, people have asked me, they said, you know, how did you know and what did you want to do? So, in 2000, there was a debate, Bush-Gore.

And I was sitting on my couch in my home in Dallas, and they had the Post commentary. And I'm watching it and they talking about a bunch of stuff I didn't care about there's a bunch of stuff they not even bringing up and I remember calling Mark Watts Mark is an alpha mark was a senior national correspondent he was an agent and I said mark I'm doing that the next election because they pissing me off not talking about the stuff that we care about. And when you look at all these other networks, I can only imagine the crap they talked about.

And it probably was the same stuff. And I guarantee you, it won't even be close to what we talked about. But these are the conversations a lot of us had growing up. There's alcohol behind us. There's food in the kitchen. But these are the conversations a lot of us had growing up. There's alcohol behind us, there's food in the kitchen. Only because of YouTube's music strikes that speaker not playing right now. But this is why the conversations are needed

and that was always the vision. There was always the vision of having the conversations that people can go back and listen to. So that's important. For my what's next, I'm actually going to go backwards. And Tiffany was talking, and she was talking about how a lot of people, they don't have hope, and they're frustrated.

And I posted this on Instagram the other day. And y'all might as well go here and get the box of tissue, because I'm just telling you, it always happens. A lot of people don't even remember this. A lot of people today never even saw this. But I really fundamentally believe if folk hear the next nine minutes and 43 seconds, I think this is going to properly put people in the right mindset for the next seven months. Press play. And then. I need audio.

I need audio. Young America, hold your head high now. We can win. We must not lose you to drugs and violence, premature pregnancy, suicide, cynicism, pessimism, and despair. We can win. Wherever you are tonight, I challenge you to hope and to dream. Don't submerge your dreams. Exercise above all else. Even on drugs, dream of the day you're drug free. Even in the gutter, dream of the day that you'll be up on your feet again.

You must never stop dreaming. Face reality, yes, but don't stop with the way things are. Dream of things as they ought to be. Dream. Face pain. But love, hope, faith, and dreams will help you rise above the pain. Use hope and imagination as weapons of survival and progress. But you keep on dreaming, young America. Dream of peace. Peace is rational and reasonable. War is irrationable in this age and unwinnable. Dream of teachers who teach for life and not for living.

Dream of doctors who are concerned more about public health than private wealth. Dream of lawyers more concerned about justice and a judgeship. Dream of preachers who are concerned more about prophecy than profiteering. Dream on the high road with sound values. And then America, as we go forth to September, October, November, and then beyond, America must never surrender to a high moral challenge. Do not surrender to drugs. The best drug policy is a no first use. Don't surrender with needles and cynicism. Let's have no first use on the one hand, our clinics on the other. Never surrender young America. Go forward. America must never surrender to malnutrition. We can feed the hungry and clothe the naked.

We must never surrender. We must go forward. We must never surrender to illiteracy. Invest in our children. Never surrender and go forward. We must never surrender to inequality. Women cannot compromise. E-R-A-A, a comparable word. Women are making 60 cents on the dollar that what a man makes. Women cannot buy meat cheaper.

Women cannot buy bread cheaper. Women cannot buy milk cheaper. Women deserve to get paid for the work that you do. It's right and it's fair. Don't surrender, my friends. Those who have AIDS tonight, you deserve our compassion. Even with AIDS, you must not surrender in your wheelchairs I see you sitting here tonight in those wheelchairs I've stayed with you. I've reached out to you across our nation and don't you give up? I know it's tough sometimes people Look down on you

It took you a little more effort to get here tonight And no one should look down on you, but sometimes Mean people do. The only justification we have for looking down on someone is that we're going to stop and pick them up. But even in your wheelchairs, don't you give up? We cannot forget 50 years ago when our backs were against the wall, Roosevelt was in a wheelchair. I would rather have Roosevelt in a wheelchair than Reagan and Bush on a horse. Don't you surrender and don't you give up.

Don't surrender and don't give up. Why can I challenge you this way? Jesse Jackson, you don't understand my situation. You'll be on television. You don't understand. I see you with the big people. You don't understand my situation. I understand. You see me on TV, but you don't know the media makes me me.

They wonder why does Jesse run. Because they see me running for the White House. They don't see the house I'm running from. I have a story. I wasn't always on television. Writers were not always outside my door. When I was born late one afternoon, October 8th, in Greenville, South Carolina, no writers asked my mother her name. Nobody chose to write down our address.

A mama was not supposed to make it. And I was not supposed to make it. You see, I was born to a teenage mother. Who was born to a teenage mother who was born to a teenage mother. I understand. I know abandonment and people being mean to you and saying you're nothing and nobody and can never be anything. I understand. Jesse Jackson is my third name.

I'm adopted. When I had no name, my grandmother gave me her name. My name was Jesse Burns until I was 12. So I wouldn't have a blank space. She gave me a name to hold me over. I understand when nobody knows your name. I understand when you have no name. I understand.

I wasn't born in the hospital. Mama didn't have insurance. I was born in the bed at house I really do understand born in a three room house bathroom in the backyard slop job by the bed no hot and cold running water

I understand wallpaper used for decoration No hot and cold running water. I understand. Wallpaper used for decoration? No, for a windbreaker. I understand. I'm a working person's person. That's why I understand whether you're black or white. I understand work.

I was not born with a silver spoon in my mouth. I had a shovel programmed for my hand. My mother, a working woman. So many days she went to work early with rungs in her stockings. She knew better, but she rolled rungs in her stockings so that my brother and I could have matching socks and not be laughed at at school. I understand. At 3 o'clock on Thanksgiving Day, we couldn't eat turkey because Mama was preparing somebody else's turkey at 3 o'clock. We had to play football to entertain ourselves. And then around 6 o'clock, she would get off the after-distribute bus

and we would bring up the leftovers and eat our turkey. Leftovers, the caucus, the cranberries, around 8 o'clock at night. I really do understand. Every one of these funny labels they put on you, those of you who are watching this broadcast tonight and the projects, on the corners, I understand. Call you outcast, low down, you can't make it. You're nothing, you're from nobody.

Subclass, underclass. When you see Jesse Jackson, when my name goes in nomination, your name goes in nomination. I was born in the slum, but the slum was not born in me. And it wasn't born in you, and you can make it. Wherever you are tonight, you can make it. Pull your head high.

Stick your chest out. You can make it. It gets dark sometimes, but the morning comes. Don't you surrender. Suffering breeds character. Character breeds faith. In the end, faith will not support. You must not surrender. You may or may not get there, but just know that you are qualified and you hold on and hold out, we must never surrender. America will get better and better. Keep hope alive. Keep hope alive.

Keep hope alive on tomorrow night and beyond. Keep hope alive. I love you very much. I love you very much. So I wanted to play that because he ended it by talking about never surrender. A lot of folks give up. And I was gonna end it there. But today I was actually doing some work and part eight started playing.

And there was a conversation that Tom Brokaw had with Ron Brown. Listen to this. Down here on the floor is Ron Brown, Jesse Jackson's campaign manager. Ron, are you troubled at all by the lateness of the hour? Not at all, and neither do the people in this coliseum seem troubled at all. I think they were inspired by an extraordinary speech from an extraordinary man. Ron, there were many of the old themes and campaign stories that we heard out on the campaign trail. Much of this was not new.

Did you think that most of these delegates hadn't heard it before? Most of them hadn't heard it, and the American people needed to hear it. They needed to hear the message of Jesse Jackson, the direction in which he wants to take the party and the country. I think they're obviously inspired for it. It was a unifying message, a unifying message by a mature political leader. There were a lot of people standing around us who had some eyes that weren't dry. Ron has just wound up, including your own. That's correct. Do you believe, plainly speaking, that many of the Jackson delegates think that if their man, their candidate, were not black, he really would be speaking on Thursday night and accepting the vice presidential nomination instead of on Tuesday night? Well, I think most of them really like to look ahead to the future

and to know the kind of historic progress that's been made this year in American politics. We've changed the landscape of American politics by the candidacy of Jesse Jackson. We're moving forward. In Jesse's words, we're keeping hope alive. I think the delegates here believe it, and I hope the American people believe it. Ron Brown, thank you very much. And now to Tom Brown. So why do I want to play that?

After the speech for Reverend Jackson, Ron Brown becomes the first black chair of the Democratic National Committee. Reverend Jackson and Ron Brown changed the rules of the Democratic Committee from winner-take-all to proportional delegation. 20 years later, Barack Obama wins the presidency because of proportional delegation.

I have to remind people, Hillary won Texas, Pennsylvania, Ohio, California, Nevada, and if they included Michigan and Florida, likely would have won those states. So under the old rules, she would have been the nominee. So when Reverend said keep fighting and never surrender, they changed the rules, and that's how you got Obama. Wow. How you got Obama is how you got Biden as vice president.

By Biden being vice president, that's what paved the way to be president because he had lost every time previously. So I'm saying all of that for folk to understand that you cannot be so freaking out by giving up and surrendering because things didn't move as fast that you wanted them to move. We literally are not in present day if that doesn't happen. And so if they didn't give up, how could any of us sit here and actually say we tired we've been fighting long enough when they literally put 20 30 40 50 60 70 years of work into this there's not a single person

not a single black person who should ever let it come out their mouth that I'm tired. Because there is somebody else who came before us who didn't stop fighting and they would say, we can't be tired, go ahead. Since it's your network, I guess we can have a few more minutes. Thank you, thank you. That is so striking, the 84 speech of our time has come. 88, all these years later, it really resonates.

The reason that hits me, I was in law school in 88. I was an undergrad in 84. We worked on that campaign in Nashville. In 88, we were all going to Atlanta to tear the Democratic Party up. Because Dukakis could not win. In 88, we were all going to Atlanta to tear the Democratic Party up. Because Dukakis could not win. And Jesse had won too many states, and we had worked too hard. He gave all his delegates to Dukakis before he made that speech.

What you have just said is so powerful for this reason. Listening to Tiffany again, thinking about all the young people in this movement. We had that fight. Either the Democratic Party is going to be this or it's not. We saw Chris Scott King for a moment. We saw Rosa Parks there. Jesse's the bridge. Bill Clinton, no Ron Brown, no Bill Clinton. Right. But here's the point.

Bernie Sanders in Vermont led Jesse's campaign there. I'm thinking about this not just in terms of the Democratic Party, because the Democratic leadership, the DLC and all that, all those years in the wilderness, it started with Bill Clinton. Jesse Jackson, in the wake of Jimmy Carter, that was the apex of the social justice, put a floor under the people wing of the Democratic Party. By being absorbed in the Democratic Party, the Democratic Party stumbled in the relative

wilderness. Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, Joe Biden coming back is not the Joe Biden who was in Senate when Jesse gave that speech. But to your larger point, this long distance run, he has been pushed in the direction of where Jesse was two generations ago. Coming out of a movement

where nobody was an elected politician because Martin Luther King said, I'm not a politician, I'm a preacher. The point you're making is really a very powerful point about long distance running. The Democratic Queen wandered in the wilderness. They took Jesse's energy and every, I don't want to say everybody, but you know more than I do about that Donna Brazile, Ron Brown. A lot of people came out of Jesse's campaign. They got absorbed in the Democratic Party. They took us into the

wilderness toward them lost white voters for a generation, two generations. Biden would go there too except this demographic in this country has changed. That speech is more relevant now than it was in the last 25, 30 years. So you're

making a very important point. I hope people can hear what you're saying, bro, because that's part of not just Jesse. That's two generations before. That's the Southern Negro Youth Congress, the first SNCC. The SNCC SNCC, SCLC, then Jesse is the first one to come into electoral politics. I mean, that's a powerful point.

Long distance means something different when you put that right there as the bridge. And that's why I want people, he said, never surrender. Y'all, this is not a moment for us to quit. No. We cannot sit on the couch and check out. Now it's time to check in.

We're going to close with this. A year ago, he was with us on this set. We lost him last year. And so we wanted to pay tribute to economist Dr. Bill Spriggs. This was him last year. We were in this very studio. It was last year. Roll the video.

No, no, no, no, no. Just pull the audio down. We were in the studio. Bill was a part of this show. And it was a great conversation. And so we just wanted his family to know that he is missed. His voice is missed. We always went to him on economic issues.

He was always my go-to guy. And so Morgan, we always called Bill first. And so when Bill passed away, we were like, all right, we got to call some folk, talk economics. And so that's when we started booking Morgan on the show. And so I just wanted folk, just want to take that moment for us just to remember Dr. Bill Spriggs, Howard University, longtime head of the economics department. And so we miss him dearly. Folks, that is it. We appreciate you all watching our coverage. Be sure to support us in what we do.

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Folks, that's it. Y'all, I appreciate it. It's been a hell of a night. We'll see y'all tomorrow right here on Roland Martin Unfiltered. Holla! We'll see you next time. A lot of times, big economic forces show up in our lives in small ways. Four days a week, I would buy two cups of banana pudding. But the price has gone up, So now I only buy one. Small but important ways.

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