#RolandMartinUnfiltered - Repubs join election suit; Congress backs diversity in media ownership; MI Rep gets lynching threats

Episode Date: December 12, 2020

12.11.20 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: Hundreds of Republicans join the Texas led election lawsuit; Congress backs diversity in media ownership; Biden announces Susan Rice a head of the White House Domestic Policy Council; U.S Senate Candidate Jon Ossoff talks Georgia runoff; MI Rep gets lynching threats over video posted on Facebook; COVID vaccine set for distribution; Despite Jurors pleas to commute Brandon Bernard's sentence he was executed; Mayor Brandon Scott shares his vision for Baltimore; We remember the life and legacy of Tommy 'Tiny' Lister.Support #RolandMartinUnfiltered via the Cash App ☛ https://cash.app/$rmunfiltered or via PayPal ☛https://www.paypal.me/rmartinunfiltered #RolandMartinUnfiltered 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. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Today is Friday, December 11, 2020. Coming up, a roller martin on the filter. The Supreme Court could be deciding very soon if they will take this ridiculous lawsuit out of Texas targeting Georgia and other states where Joe Biden was elected president. And more Republicans sign on to this amicus brief. How stupid are these people? Georgia and other states where Joe Biden was elected president.

And more Republicans signed on to this amicus brief. How stupid are these people? We'll also talk to Congresswoman Val Demings about a resolution that dealt with diversifying media ownership. Vice President, excuse me, President-elect, guys, President-elect Joe Biden picked Susan Rice, of course, as his national domestic policy leader. Also today, Marsha Fudge speaks, a congresswoman from Ohio, after he named her as the head of HUD. We'll show you that as well. Plus, I talked with U.S. Senate candidate John Ossoff when I was in Atlanta recently.

We'll have that for you. We'll also speak with Michigan State Representative Cynthia Johnson, who has been receiving lynching threats for videos she posted on Facebook dealing with voters there, and she was stripped of her assignments in the legislature. What's that all about? We also have a COVID update where we'll discuss how some people may see a vaccine as early as next week and how the Trump White House is putting pressure on the FDA to approve Pfizer's vaccine. Despite jurors pleased to commute Brandon Bernard's sentence, he was executed last night with the Trump folks doing their desperate to kill more people before he gets out of office. And we'll speak with Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott about his plans to tackle Baltimore's

rising COVID numbers, gun violence, and housing in the city. Plus, we'll remember the life and legacy of actor Tommy Tiny Lister. You may know him as Devo from Friday. Folks, it's a jam-packed show. It is time to bring the funk and roll the mark on the filter. Let's go. He's knowing, putting it down from sports to news to politics With entertainment just for kicks He's rolling, yeah, with Uncle Roro, yo Yeah, yeah, it's rolling, Martin, yeah Yeah, yeah, rolling with Roland now Yeah, yeah, he is a busy Friday. We are awaiting. We're hearing the Supreme Court could very well decide, decide the case whether to accept this ridiculous lawsuit out of Texas. OK, this ridiculous lawsuit out of Texas where they're challenging the election results in Georgia.

More Republicans have sat on this amicus brief, folks. In fact, now House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy has signed on to it. Do you understand how seditious this is? These Republicans are literally asking the Supreme Court to overturn the votes of millions of people. And so we're waiting that decision. Once we get it, we'll have our legal panel ready to break this thing down, whether they accept it or reject it. And so we'll let you know about that. Now, today, President-elect Joe Biden unveiled more members of his cabinet, including Susan Rice, who will head the National Domestic Policy Council, as well as Congresswoman Marsha Fudge, who will be heading HUD. Here's Susan Rice, what she had to say today. Thank you so much, Mr. President-elect, Madam Vice President-elect, I'm honored to join this tremendous team.

Today, we confront a profoundly connected set of crises, a relentless pandemic, a struggling economy, urgent demands for racial equity and justice, a climate in need of healing, a democracy in need of repair, and a world in need of renewed American leadership. In the 21st century, our foreign, economic, and domestic imperatives are deeply intertwined. Tackling these challenges is personal to me. I'm a descendant of immigrants and the enslaved, and service is in our blood. My paternal great-grandfather was born a slave in South Carolina and joined the Union Army. He went on to get a college degree, become an AME minister, and he founded the Bordentown School in New Jersey, which for seven decades provided African Americans with vocational

and college preparatory educations. Two generations later, my father, Emmett Rice, served as a Tuskegee Airman and as a governor of the Federal Reserve. My maternal grandparents came to this country from Jamaica with no education, but working for decades as a janitor and a maid, they saved and they scraped to send all five of their children to college and on to professional success. My mother, Lois Rice, was known as the mother of the Pell Grant program, which has enabled 80 million Americans to reach college. And as she liked to say, not bad for a poor colored girl from Portland, Maine. But today, for far too many, the American dream has become an empty promise, a cruel

mockery of lives held back by barriers, new and old. That is not good enough for any American. But we know that throughout our history, Americans have forged opportunity out of crisis. After the Civil War, we ended slavery and enshrined the concept of equal protection under the law. During the Great Depression, we established the Works Progress Administration and Civilian Conservation Corps. After World War II, we enacted the GI Bill. In the 1960s, we abolished legal segregation, established full voting rights, and enacted Medicare and Medicaid. Now, at the foot of yet another bridge between crisis and opportunity, I'm honored and excited to take on this role. Joe Biden and Kamala Harris's vision for our future is expansive but achievable.

America must finally become a nation where every child from Akron to Arkansas, from the Bronx to Brownsville, from the Sioux Nation to South Central Los Angeles can dream without limits and make her dreams come true. I have no illusions about the difficulty of making that vision real. But we are here to get hard stuff done. Our top priorities will be to help end the pandemic and revitalize the economy so that it delivers for all. To bring dignity and humanity to our broken immigration system. To advance racial equity, justice, and civil rights for all.

To ensure that health care is accessible and affordable, and to educate and train Americans to compete and thrive in the 21st century. I profoundly believe that we all rise or fall together. Absolutely all of us. So Mr. President-elect, Madam Vice President-elect, I promise you I will do everything I can to help this country I love to build back better. To make our government deliver for all Americans and for working families and to bring the American dream far closer to reality for all. Thank you. In a moment, we'll hear from Congresswoman Marsha Fudge, who, of course,

has been named Secretary of HUD. Right now, we want to go to Congresswoman Val Demings, who is from Florida. She joins us right now. Congresswoman, glad to always have you on the show. A whole lot of stuff happening. I want to get I want to talk about your media ownership resolution. But but but I got to talk about one. I do want to get your thoughts on this team being assembled by Biden. One of your colleagues will be coming in as her secretary. But also the CBC has been making it perfectly clear that Joe Biden, black folk put you in. You got the nomination for black people in South Carolina. Black women voted for you at a high rate to anybody else.

Black men were number two. So we want to see black folks in the administration, top to bottom. Roland, we can't stop to start, you know, talk about just talk about the strength of black voters, the strength of black women, the strength of black men, and then not see them in the decision-making positions. And I'm so proud. That's what we have seen the last couple of weeks. Black, competent, strong people who are ready to do the job in the decision-making positions. And I think, quite frankly, you know, I've heard this scripture that says, we have not because we ask not. And I'm glad that the members of the CBC have made it quite clear that, look, we have people within our ranks who can do the job. We expect to really be rewarded, if you will, by seeing people who look like us, people who are ready, people who are competent in those positions.

So it's been really an exciting time. Let's talk about this other issue. These 126 traitors who serve with the House representatives, these idiots have signed on to this Texas bill. I mean, and now you got House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy. They literally want to overturn the will of the people. And in fact, one of your colleagues wants to use a civil rights statute to bar them from even taking their seats in Congress. I'm just sort of laughing at the people who were elected from Georgia and Pennsylvania and Michigan who say that the election was bad, except their elections, which were on the same ballot. Roland, you know, I saw Representative Pasquarelle's suggestion today, basically, that, you know, anyone who undermines our democracy should not be seated in the 117th Congress.

And I'm reminded of the impeachment trial, which was about what? All about the president undermining our democracy. I combed through the list more than once to make sure I had a clear understanding who was on the list. The members, 10 members from Florida, disappointing, not shocking. They're basically I mean, you said it. they're undermining the democracy that is so precious, the democracy that they were elected to protect. And I think it's quite frankly, just like former Republican president Jeb Bush, I mean, a Republican governor of Florida, Jeb Bush said today, this is crazy. It's absolutely crazy. And they should be held accountable for it.

I agree. And you said you did what I did. You went through the list. And my whole deal is I want to see everybody on it because I want to be real clear who we should never hear from ever again about democracy and voting and law and order and what's right because these people are showing their true colors. The reason we want to talk to you today dealt with the issue of homeownership. And so I want you to explain to folks this House Resolution 549, what it actually means, what is it intended to do, and what will be the outcome for African-Americans? Well, Roland, thank you so much.

We have been working on this since our time in Congress in 2017. We know, we all know, are familiar with the Kerner Report that basically said over 50 years ago now that the lack of diversity can contribute to racial tension. The lack of diversity in media, on the big screen, in radio, in ownership. Who tells the story matters. Who owns the company matters. You help to frame the story. So whether you're on the big screen, whether you're in radio, whether you're in printed media, whether you are in front of the camera or behind the camera, on the microphone or not, diverse voices are important to how our views are shaped, how our opinions are framed. And so this was a commitment, and I'm so excited about the overwhelming bipartisan support

we received yesterday, to say that Congress is committed to making sure that diversity is included in every realm, every aspect of the media. And so we've been working. We have a brain trust that we've been working with some of the brightest and the best in the field, bringing them to the table. We've had summits during the annual leadership conference with the CBC. We've invited some of the brightest minds to deal with this issue to help us really move this legislation forward, not just to a commitment, but to actual action in the field. And so we are excited about it. We still have a lot of work to do. But the first major hurdle is past us with the passing of this resolution but but this is what i think is um

look i absolutely believe in black ownership but the issue that we face is really not ownership the issue that we face is even after we launch it we start it we buy it we own it how we're being locked out of the dollars that drive the ownership. So I'm going to go here. Two years ago, the NNPA worked with Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton, and she asked the General Accounting Office to do an audit to ascertain how much the federal government spends on advertising each year and how much goes to black businesses. Go to my iPad, please.

This is what it said. Fed ad purchases from black media, only 1%, only 1% of $5 billion. And so in a, in a five-year period, in a five-year period, I'm going to show you in a second, in a five-year period, a 41 page report, federal government agencies spent 5 billion in advertising, just 327 million went to minority owned businesses, but other 32, $51 million only went to black-owned. I can tell you, as a black media company, this is the issue that we find with political campaigns, that we find with the DSCC, the DCCC, the DNC. We found it with the Biden campaign. We sat all over. Now you talk about federal agencies. And so you can own it, but you can never have capacity and grow it to be able to be a CNN or MSNBC or Fox News because we get completely frozen out of the ad dollars.

Roland, one of the major components of this commitment, this resolution, is that the strong cannot survive or should not be able to survive at the expense of the weak. And the information that you just laid out in terms of advertising dollars, that has been a top priority for us. You're absolutely correct. I certainly am a member of the Congressional Black Caucus. We talked about it then. I was one of the recruitment chairs with the DCCC. We talked about it then. I certainly have worked with the Biden campaign. We talked about it then. And so this legislation, we certainly understand that the strength goes where the dollars goes. And if we're going to get to the point where we need to get to with diversity and all things in this area, then the dollars have got to accompany the resolution and the legislation. And so we have

a lot of work ahead of us, but I am very, very encouraged by where we can get to if we continue to have the political will and hear from voices like yours to help us get to where we need to get to. I'm going to tell you that that that that that really is the piece. And I'm just going to just use an example. I mean, you know, and just just just understand federal government is one thing. And I think certainly and this happened with the census. Your colleague, Congressman Stephen Horsford, was on here when he met with Y and R young and Rubicam, which was the agency that they picked to handle the $300 million for the census. They told him we are not going to buy any advertising for any newspapers,

50,000 circulation or less. That arbitrary decision completely impacts 98 percent of all black newspapers. 98 percent. And now here's the other deal. So I have to deal with them on this. Let me tell you how they how the game was rigged. Why? No, I got the contract. Then they gave it to a subsidiary that they also owned to manage it. Then they partitioned the digital portion out to a subsidiary they own. Then they partitioned the TV and radio to subsidiary they own. So they got paid three different times.

We filled out the ad deal in April. Never heard from them. I called them out on the air, on social media. We filled out the ad deal in April. Never heard from them. I called them out on the air, on social media. They called Carol H. Williams, the black ad agency, who they froze out. And, oh, my God, what's going on? She said, y'all ain't responding to his proposal. That's the only reason we got some money, because I had to literally call them out. So again, part of this deal is how these

games are being played. Now that's just, again, and the CBC fought to get, Barbara Lee told me they fought to get 70 million added to the budget to reach black folks. But they, so here's what I think all should happen. The CBC should do an audit of Young and Rubicam and say how much of the census money went to black media and pinpoint it because that's also part of the deal. They don't like the word audit because they're controlling

the dollars. In these white ad agencies, they come up with the metrics to freeze us out. The game that they play to freeze black media out is stunning. Oh, Roland, I'm well aware of the games that they play, but those are the kind of things that we need to be directly involved in. I was serious about voices like yours coming to the table because this is an issue that we've dealt with way too long. I think we made a yeoman's effort

over the last couple of years to really try to hold them accountable. But as you've just indicated, I think the census is just one primary example. We know that black and brown communities, many of them are very suspect, if you will, about the census and reaching them through black media, reaching them through black media, reaching

them through black newspapers and brown newspapers and other black radio and others is the way to get the message to them about the importance of the census. And so that is a primary example that we can use going forward, whether it's an audit, whether it's hearings, but really looking at where we need to go, what games are still being played and what path needs to be taken to get us where we need to be. So when the census rolls around again, we will not find ourselves in the same place. Well, we stand with you. And I said this. I mentioned that five billion to Senator Chuck Schuman when he was on here. I'm still trying to get Speaker Nancy Pelosi to come on. I told her office, and let me be real clear, the white staffers in her office,

that she's got to be doing black media as well, not just doing MSNBC and CNN. But again, I said to the Biden-Harris folk, we're coming after that $5 billion because there's no way we can ever grow if we're frozen out. And that's really how the game is being played. And so we appreciate this resolution. Anything we can do, just simply let us know. But in the words of that great financial wizard, gangster Frank Lucas, I'm going to get that money. Thank you so much for inviting me on. It's so great to be with you again.

I appreciate it. Congresswoman Val Demmons, great job with the resolution and we'll keep it going. Thanks a lot. Thank you. All right. I want to go to bring in my panel right now because several things that we want to bring up. I'm going to play the video in a moment of Congresswoman Marsha Fudge, her speech with HUD. But Lawn Victoria Burke joins us right now. Amisha Cross, are you there as well? I see both of you there. And, Lauren, I'll start with you again. Look, pick the topic, follow the money.

Those three words, follow the money. So you can talk ownership, but if you don't get those ad dollars, you don't survive. That's right. Everything in American life and in American history has been about money and ownership, money and ownership. Who does the work a lot of times is not as valuable as who does the collecting of the money. We saw in the music industry in the early days, the music industry. Certainly see it in the media industry all the time. And to build the type of scale that needs to be built, just as you said, with regard to media ownership is key. I think I was at the Eleanor Holmes Norton press conference where she was trying to audit to find out the money for the

advertising and the NNPA had partnered with her on that. I don't know that they ever actually got a answer. You really have to be so on top of every detail of what is going on when it comes to these money allocations. And as you know better than anybody, the conversation with DCCC, DNC, DSCC has been interminable. It's gone on forever. We've been talking about this forever. It never seems to come to a conclusion. And it really takes somebody who is on that case and on their case and covering that over a matter of year after year after year after year, whether they be in the media or in Congress, to really hold this particular issue accountable. And it never seems to get resolved uh but i'm a big

believer that one of the reasons it doesn't get resolved is because of course the people who are making the decisions who are controlling the money never uh one never look like us and never have our business interest at heart that's a key thing so when we don't get these positions that control these decisions uh that's a huge problem in this. Well, Lauren, I think, well, Lauren and Misha, I think the reason that happens is because also, look, Frederick Douglass said it best. And I'm sorry, if anybody can show me an example where black people have not had to agitate, agitate, agitate for anything, please do so. He said, Amisha, power concedes nothing without a demand. Never have, never will. The only way

to get the money is to expose their asses. I'm telling you. I had, I put Y&R on blast for four straight days. Lit they ass up on this show. Lit them up on Twitter, Instagram,

Facebook. They called Carol H. Williams. Oh, my God, where is this coming from? She said, y'all have not responded to his damn proposal. Then they were like, what should we do? She said, cut his ass a check. I mean, and that's the deal. We have to actually yell, cuss, holler, scream, talk about your mama just for them to do right because they want to keep the money to themselves. Right. Exactly. You're absolutely correct, Roland.

And I think that, you know, for for black media, the the proof has been it's waiting gold for a long time now. We know of its extent of reach. We know how much it pushes in terms of advocacy, how much it pushes in terms of feet on the ground, boots on the ground to get things done, what it means in terms of PR, what it means in terms of driving the conversation for minority communities. The focal point isn't necessarily at this point proving work, which is what is often argued from some of these institutions in charge of dealing out cash. It is more so who's actually controlling the voices. And when you limit that amount of money, when you limit the amount of reach that can be given by black media, I think that that's the ultimate goal here. So we know that voices like yours, media that we see from some of the great people of color who are driving the conversation now, particularly I like how you coaxed it in

the argument and the push for what we just saw, not only the 2020 election, but also when we were talking about the census itself. Of course, there are ramifications for the amount of people who surely did not participate in the census. And we're going to see that very shortly. I think that had that money have been given, have we seen more strength and more fortitude when it comes to paying attention to the needs of Black media specifically, we would see stronger outcomes for things like that. It's continually frustrating that we have to go to Congress members. We have to go to and almost beg private sector leaders to actually pay attention to the fact that black media needs to have more funding. And the larger white

conglomerates just don't have to do that. And it's really sad. Let me, for our audience, I really need to put this in perspective for our audience so you can understand why the resolution of congresswoman valedictorian is important and why the dollars are important because they go together so this is this is so this is real simple on capitol hill right now, and Lauren can answer this question very easily. Lauren, is there a full time black journalist reporting on Capitol Hill for one or all black media outlets? Oh, no, no, no. Stay right. No, no. So I need everybody listening right now. Yeah. This is the credentialing process there.

You know, to your point, with regard to the 50,000, that little rule that they put in there about you had to have a media organization over 50,000 to get credential on Capitol Hill. You have to have a media organization of a certain size. And most black media organizations can't make that requirement. So what that means is when we're covering a big event such as inauguration, you can't send somebody to get that content to provide value to your news organization because you don't meet the requirements to get the credential. And then you deal with people such as I have had to for 20 years, like Jeff Kent in the Press Photographers Gallery, who drive you crazy because they want to pull credentials and come up with rules that they don't come up with anyone else for. And frankly, that's been going on for years now. Now. So here's a deal for the people who are watching. So you can understand

you take the show that we have. Okay. Um, they know way in hell they can try to deny us credentials with our numbers we're doing 25 to 30 million views every single month my deal would be I dare your ass to tell me no and then it's going to be hell to pay but let me explain to the people what I'm trying to get to if I don't get the additional advertising dollars, then I can't hire more staff. Right.

Yeah, this is real simple. If this show goes from a million, million and a half, two million, 2.5 million, to five or six or seven million in revenue, guess what I can do? I can hire a full-time congressional correspondent

whose job will be to cover the CBC and all of its members. I can actually hire a bureau chief in Atlanta and a bureau person in Chicago and a bureau person in New York to provide coverage

of the three largest cities where black people live. Right. See, folks, I need, so y'all, this ain't rocket science. Right. So when they starve us of the dollars. Right. We stay small when you starve us of the dollars and we stay small.

We then can't report from our perspective and what we care about. So what they do is what they do. so what Lauren has explained, they say, ah, you too small. Well, I'm too small because you freeze the money up from me. And then how do they freeze the money? They freeze the money by saying, you too small. Well, hell, I can't grow. I can't build capacity if I can't get more money. And the money is on clicks to the website, viewership to the website, viewership to what you're doing, your show.

The way you build that viewership, of course, is to have that bureau chief in Atlanta, to have that reporter on Capitol Hill that brings that content that nobody else is covering and bringing, and that bring viewership to your, to your product. Hold up, hold up, hold up, hold up. And see here now let's take it further through the app, through the YouTube studio app. I can check at any moment, our performance over the last 28 days. Right? So I'm gonna get, I'm talking to y'all in real time, in real time, in the last 28 days, the watch time for this show just on YouTube is one hundred and twenty three point four million minutes. Andrew, the views are thirteen point six million. We've had an increase of twenty one thousand seven hundred subscribers. And that's just simply in the last 28 days. Okay. Now here's the deal

without additional revenue. I then can't run promotional ads on Facebook, Periscope, Instagram, YouTube, that would actually take me from 13.6 million views to 25, 30 million views, which would then take my revenue over a hundred thousand per month to 150 to 200,000 and 300,000. So without the resources can't build, can't grow. This is what I am explaining is how, even when we do get to own, we are completely frozen out. And every single white ad agency is doing this. And then they don't. We are getting essentially 15 to 20 cents on the dollar compared to mainstream media, Andrew. You're on mute.

There you go. Now we got you. Go ahead. OK, you can't argue with those numbers, Roland. And I think that, you know, we're getting to a place where it's just no longer acceptable not to invest in our community and in our media companies. So, I mean, what I want to see with this bill and other bills like it is, you know, there's a proliferation of other black news channels. I want us to see this go mainstream. I want to see your show, you have iHeartRadio. And I know that over time, this is something that maybe we can move over to cable like we had back in the day, that there's just more opportunities for us because no one's

really telling our perspective and telling our story. You talked a little bit earlier about the advertising dollars. And we know about black buying power. We know how powerful our community is, but our stories still are not being told on mainstream platforms. Well, and again, here's the deal. I ain't worried about mainstream platforms, okay? Because bottom line is I'm not trying to ask y'all, y'all please get the breaking news banner ready. The Supreme Court's ruling has come in. But here's my whole point. My whole point is I completely stand with Congresswoman Val Demings on the ownership piece. The other piece for me is is to get the ad money. As Frank Lucas says, I'm going to get that money. That's the deal. So here's the piece. If you just imagine if we go in one year, let's take the billion dollars a year. If black media goes from 10 million dollars a year, Amisha, to let's just say 15 percent of the one billion, that's going from 10.1 million a year to 150 million. That that that changes the ballgame. That literally alters and alters what we're able to do.

Amisha, go ahead. It not only changes the ballgame, and you spoke about this earlier, but it also gives you that extra capacity, and that capacity is needed because there are so many stories. We saw the breaking news just last night about the, sadly, about the young man who was executed. I think that there are so many stories of people who have been sentenced to death row who don't need to be there. There are so many stories of people who have been sentenced to death row who don't need to be there. There are so many stories of various things that are happening in our community, from economic development to housing, infrastructure, things that matter to African-Americans across this country, where you would need somebody on the ground, someone invested in those communities to have those conversations, to bring that news back, to expand across multiple digital platforms. That ad buy makes a difference. I think that for a lot of members of our community, the idea is, you know, when you start your own

media piece, when you're, you know, when you're advertising, when you're showcasing on Facebook, when you have these streams like you do, Roland, that all is fine and dandy because things are great. And I think that there's a lot missing in terms of understanding of what it takes to make that work, what it takes and how much staff capacity you need, what it takes to bring these types of stories that are often, you know, left out of other media sources to the people. And that's what that money is necessary for. That's what that type of infrastructure builds towards, making sure that these stories are told, making sure that the individuals needed to build that capacity to share these stories to the audience that needs to hear the most is there, making sure that you have everybody equipped with the right tools and understanding of

the things they should be reaching out to their congresspeople about, the things they should be talking to their mayors, governors, and other state elected officials about. Those things many people wouldn't even know aside from having a Black media source that drives the attention to them. So I definitely think that this is something that isn't talked about enough, but I'm so thankful that you're raising the alarm for it because black people and black media has been cut out for so long when it comes to advertising dollars. And it's something that we just should not, we should be demanding change. It's something that we should not be quiet about anymore. Absolutely. All right, folks, the breaking news. The idiotic lawsuit filed by the dumbass attorney general in Texas, Ken Paxton, signed on by 17 other attorneys generals in these

red states, signed on by 126 dumbass Republicans in the House of Representatives has been completely rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court. Go to my iPad, please. Texas versus Pennsylvania. The state of Texas's motion for leave to file a bill of complaint is denied for lack of standing under Article 3 of the Constitution. Texas has not demonstrated a judicially cognizable interest in the manner in which another state conducts its elections. All other pending motions are dismissed as moot. Statement of Justice Alito, with whom Justice Thomas joins. In my view, we do not have discretion

to deny the filing of a bill of complaint in a case that falls within our original jurisdiction. See Arizona versus California, 589. I would therefore, now, here's the deal. Now, you got, I guess, I think this is Clarence Thomas. Let's see. Let's see what these two. First of all, it says here, I would therefore grant the motion to file the bill of complaint, but would not grant other relief. And I express no view on any other issue. Robert Petillo, his attorney, joins us right now. Robert, first of all, what the hell is that mean? Explain to the folk

who are not lawyers. Okay, well, the simplest way to explain it is, so Justice Alito and Justice Thomas dissented from the majority opinion, which was an unsigned opinion. So the court ruled, so seven of the justices ruled that the state of Texas does not have standing, as in they do not have the ability, they do not have the right, they are not a complainant, to file a suit against these other states based upon their internal state electoral processes. So before getting to the arguments about Section 3, to the arguments about the Elector's Clause, to the release which was sought by the president, they're setting down very clear precedents that states cannot interfere in the electoral processes of other states.

So I think that's the most important part of the ruling. Secondarily, the fact that we've gone through these judicial confirmation proceedings, and Donald Trump has gotten three justices confirmed to the Supreme Court, and all three of those justices voted against the lawsuit. Amy Coney Bryant, Kavanaugh, Gorsuch joined John Roberts. And the majority opinion, though, is unaltered. And the fact there's only a paragraph that they released

shows just how slight of a legal basis or lack of legal basis there was for this to go forward. Basically, the Supreme Court just said, Trump and all y'all Republicans who want to overturn this here kiss our collective ass. I wouldn't say that. What they are saying, however, is that this is not a case in controversy, which is right for adjudication before the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court has original jurisdiction over conflicts between states. So it's normally water rights, electrical use, border disputes, those sorts of things. The Supreme Court is saying that this isn't even a dispute that they can rule on because there is no dispute here. There is no underlying case for them to argue about. And therefore, the state of Texas does not have, there's no controversy between Texas and Georgia. There's no controversy between Texas and Pennsylvania. There's no controversy between Texas and

Pennsylvania, and they're just not even standing there in order to file a lawsuit. So before even getting to the starting blocks, there's no ability of this court to even exert original jurisdiction over the matter. So here's what I love, the line, y'all go back to my iPad, please. I love this right here. Texas has not demonstrated a judicially cognizable interest in the manner in which another state conducts its elections. Basically, what they're saying is, what the hell y'all talking about? Y'all can't. Y'all ain't got no damn voice in what Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania does in their elections, just like they ain't got no voice in what you do in your damn state. You're absolutely right about that. Remember, it's prescribed by the Constitution that states set their own electoral processes.

This is why you can have five states where they do mail-in voting for the last 30 years. You have other states where you have very different rules. Part of the Texas lawsuit was made the least amount of sense was this concept or this argument they were trying to put forward that because there are differences in electoral processes county to county in each state, therefore that would mean that the case would be completely overturned if another state did not like the electoral process in your state. And then the relief that was sought by the Texas AG is the most hilarious part because they wanted to send the election back to the state legislators in those states. So not even for the voters to have a say in it, but for the state legislature to overturn the will of the voter and appoint their own electors. And then the idea of being in a state like Georgia, where you have a constitutional majority for Republicans in the House and the Senate and the governor's mansion, that they would just appoint Republican electors to vote for Trump there by effectively overturning the

election. What the Supreme Court has done is set down clear precedents that they are not going to be used as a political tool, even if you did appoint three of the justices on the court, and even if you do have a six to three conservative majority, they are not going to be used as a tool of any political party to settle these disputes. So we may have a far more fair court than we expected coming out of this. And President Trump clearly anticipated this when he rushed through his judicial nominees because he thought that this is how it will be decided and they will vote in his favor. Basically, they also said, Trump, your ass lost the election for the 100th

time. Yeah, I think, you know, Joe Biden has won this election more times than I think any president in American history. We've had recounts. we've had close votes. This was not a close election. People have to remember that. This was the election decided by 7 million votes. We're talking about 53% of the vote went to Biden. Even in the Electoral College, we're talking about 308 electors, something along those lines, 306 or 308 electors versus 232 for Donald Trump. Simply put, there is no way to read this other than as a landslide picture for Joe Biden. And this was officially the end of the end. All 50 states this week have certified the electoral results, including West Virginia, who's the last one to send theirs in. The election is

over. Joe Biden is the president-elect, just as he was five weeks ago. And there's really nowhere else for President Trump to go as he tries to overturn the election. So what that really means is pack your ish and get the hell out. It's over. I think that was the clear mandate of the people. And remember, we haven't really had a mandate that many times in the last 20 years of American politics, whether Bush v. Gore being close in 2000, Bush v. Kerry was close in 2004. President Obama even barely beat Mitt Romney in many ways in 2012. Of course, 2016 was a razor thin election.

This is a clear mandate for Joe Biden going forward. All right, Robert Tillow, we appreciate it. Thanks a lot. Thank you. Lauren, I made the point to Congresswoman Val Demons. I don't want to hear a damn thing from not now. 126 House Republicans. I don't want to hear Dan Crinshaw kiss my ass. Jim Jordan kiss my ass. Kevin McCarthy kiss my ass. Jim Jordan, kiss my ass. Kevin McCarthy, kiss my ass. All of them. I don't want to hear nothing about law and order, the Constitution, democracy, doing the right thing.

Nothing. Nothing. These leeches have absolutely sold themselves, sold their soul to Donald Trump. And none of them are only a handful of Republicans had the guts to say, man, go on with that bullshit. We ain't signing that damn amicus brief. We're not going to embarrass ourselves with that. Yeah. And we have to pay really close attention to who signed on, the 126 House Republicans, the 18 attorney generals around the country, because anyone who signed on to this, this is into the realm of treason. This is into the realm of defying your oath with regard to the Constitution.

I mean, basically what has happened here is because of the election of Barack Obama, there is a segment of the Republican Party who has decided to basically ignore reality. And they're ignoring reality because they are the cult of one thing, which is being in control and being in power. Donald Trump has become their cult leader, and they have decided to ignore details, ignore facts, ignore the truth, and now ignore the Constitution. They tried to overthrow an election. I mean, that's what this is.

And we need to take very clear focus on the 126 people serving in the U.S. House that were a part of this and the attorney generals that were a part of this around this country. The election is going to be officially certified in three days. There's nothing that's going to stop that. And yet they still did this, and why? To impress Donald Trump and I guess his followers who are their constituents, I guess. But it is a scary moment, even though it's good that the Supreme Court did what they did. It's a pretty scary moment to think that we have that many people serving the federal government and state government who actually believed that this was somehow OK. And this is why you have to fight and not get complacent about these people, because they will do what they can get away with. They will do what they can get away with.

Yeah. And Andrew, that's the real deal here. Caitlin Collins with CNN, she posted this. She's put on Twitter. She said, quote, several Republicans who signed their name to the amicus brief for the Texas lawsuit understood it would likely quickly be shot down by the Supreme Court and only viewed it like many other things in Trump's world as a loyalty test. But Trump told people he thought he had prevailed. Andrew, I don't give a damn what they thought. These idiots cannot be trusted ever again. Ever again. Roland, you're right. I mean, all this talk of democracy, the will of the voters, the will of the people. I mean, this is painful to see. I think that, you know, there's a lot of these, you know, 127 House Republicans and attorneys generals that signed on to this have lost so much credibility. You know, in another country, in another world, we would call this a coup.

I think a lot of Republicans really need to ask themselves, you know, are you more loyal to this president or maybe the job you may have later or the people who elected you? And there's just a lot of lost credibility on this. It doesn't make any sense. Put me in the camp with Jeb Bush and everyone else that says that this is crazy and killed on arrival and shouldn't be what the party stands for. It's absolutely insane. And if she were on the other foot

and Democrats were doing this, I mean, you already know how, what the response is. Of course, Amisha, go to my iPad, y'all. This is the list. This is the list. Actually, this is only, is only one hundred and six. Twenty more idiots added their name to this list. Then you throw in the 18 attorneys generals.

Then you throw in the other people out there. These other group, Eric Erickson, big time right wing conservative. There was this other group who posted that idiot evangelical Tony Perkins and others. He said there are many friends on this list. They're embarrassing themselves. Oh, absolutely. And, you know, it's interesting to hear some conservatives say it. But I think that we somewhat miss a point with assuming that these people either don't know what they're doing or that they don't understand what's at stake here. Oh, they know. Quite frankly, many of the people who signed their names onto this amicus brief are people who are in districts where they were going to be loved and they consider to be Trump loyalists anyway. So they will get reelected.

The most important and the most vital thing here is that there is there has been in there. I don't think it is going to turn back. There is an ultimate shift in the Republican Party. You have a handful of people who are stalwart Republicans who are Reagan era Republicans who are, you know, common sense Bush era Republicans. And you have a whole hell of a lot of people who are Trump Republicans. And that just is what it is. They've seen the rallies. They've seen the level of esteem.

They've seen the level of esteem. They've seen the level of like following. They've seen the hellified strong levels of fundraising dollars that he has had during this shakedown and this scam. And they are excited by it. They know that the lid has come out. You can't put these people back in the box. At the end of the day, this is where America is right now. Regardless of the fact that we have this new coming of Biden and Kamala Harris, you still have a lot of people who are, you know, hook, line and sinker and on Trump rhetoric policies and the understanding that he's not going to go away anytime too soon. And I think that what we have here are elected officials who have ours in front of their name, who are so vested in Trumpism that they're going to keep it going no matter what. Absolutely. Fanning the flames on misinformation. Remember all the rallies and the number of people who caught COVID at these rallies and died.

You know, they're still having holiday parties. It's just a cognitive dissonance between, you know, one part of the country is trying to battle the coronavirus and the other part of the country is throwing parties. Like, I don't understand in what world would that make sense. You can say that you're... And here's the deal. This conservative action project. Conservatives call on state

legislators to appoint new electors in accordance with the Constitution. Y'all, I want everybody... No, no, no, go back. I want everybody. I want everybody to see no, no. Go back. I want everybody. I want everybody to see this here. This is what these idiots wrote. And I want y'all to look at the names. It says the evidence overwhelmingly shows officials in key battleground states as the result of a coordinated pressure campaign by Democrats and allied groups violated the Constitution, state and federal law and and changing mail-in voting rules that resulted in unlawful and invalid certifications of Biden victories.

There is no doubt President Donald J. Trump is a lawful winner of the presidential election. Joe Biden is not president-elect. Look at these names. I want all y'all to look at them. That idiot from Judicial Watch, Thomas Fitton. That idiot, Tony Perkins, from the Family Research Council. If you see them, cuss them out.

You have my permission. You got that idiot, Brent Bozell, Media Research Center. You've got idiot, Ken Blackwell, okay, former Secretary of State of Ohio. The list goes on and on and on. David Bossie,

yeah, that fool, Citizens United, all of them. Gary Bauer, yep, former congressman, yep, screw him too. You can just keep going. Look at all these names. All these people here should never, ever be put on television, listened to ever again, because they are absolutely stuck on stupid. Every single one of them, I'm going to show all their names before I move on because the folks, this is the moment. And this is why I keep saying Joe Biden and stop all that nonsense, how we can get along with them

and how we can sit here and work with them. No, you can't work long. You can't work with none of these people. These people, these people literally wanted to overthrow an election. They wanted to launch a coup. This is a failed coup attempt in the United States. They should be treated for sedition, for treason. And that should be the discussion. That should be where the discussion begins. I really cannot believe this whole effort to try and reach out. At some point, the Democratic Party has to understand you're not dealing with the mainstream moderate Republican Party of the Reagan era or the Bush Republican Party. You're dealing with some other iteration of Republican, which I actually do not think represents the majority

of the Republican Party. But they are willing to go off the cliff of ending our democracy to have control. And their featuring argument in this moment was basically because black voters decided this election, this thing is invalid. Because that group of people decided this election, Biden's election is invalid. That effectively was their underlying argument. They had targeted black votes that had decided this election and decided that, well, this is invalid because they effectively picked the next president. You know, that and their misinformation campaign, their willingness to completely lie, their willingness to completely ignore facts and sort of just make up reality should tell you that there is no negotiation here because you're not dealing with people who are accepting facts. They've just made up their own reality and they're doing what they want to do.

And I'm so I'm really surprised that Joe Biden has not figured that out yet because he's going to figure it out. January 20. It's really fascinating, Roland. I mean, when Republicans are in charge, it's hit the gas full steam ahead on everything from Supreme Court justices to the federal courts. And now that Biden and Kamala Harris are going to be in the White House, it's like, well, we need to get more moderate agency directors and cabinet officials. And, you know, certain people might not be palatable to the Republican Party, which I find fascinating because how many Democrats, you know, served in the Trump administration? And how many Democrats, you know, partnered with Trump on anything? Trump wasn't trying to build a coalition that looked like the country. So I've been really it's really interesting some

of the picks that Biden has. And I think they're very, you know, very moderate voices or people that are tested when there could have been other people that were kind of coming through the ranks that might have been more effective. Well, again, that's how that that's this dumb game Democrats play. Just like, OK, you never, ever see Republicans say, yeah, we're going to entertain appointing conservatives, Republicans to our cabinet. Like, hell no, we're going to point down. We're going to point down Republicans. Only Democrats get stuck on stupid with that. Oh, let's do that. Because because here's the deal. Democrats want to play by the rules. Oh, let's have somebody do that. Let's have somebody. Because here's the deal. Democrats want to play by the rules. No, we have rules and norms.

Damn that. Here's my deal. If I'm sitting in a boxing match, alright, and the person I'm fighting picks up a two-by-four and swings it at me, I'm not going to say, no, I'm going to abide by the rules of boxing.

No, I'm going to grab a two-by-four and beat your ass. That's what I'm going to do. I mean, we see it all the time, Roland. I mean, Democrats, they almost lost the House. How does that happen? You know, state legislative seats, they lost hundreds of state legislative seats when redistricting and census is going to come on.

Like, is anybody thinking about that? It's called when you play nice. I don't believe in playing nice again. Michelle Obama said when they go low, we go high. No, when they go low, we go lower. You kneecap them. You want to know your kneecap? You stab them in the ankles. You slice the bottom of their feet. You cut their toes off. If they go lower than that, fine. Hell yeah. Right. If they hit you on the knee, you cut off their damn ankles. If they go after your ankles, you slice their feet. You go

lower and lower. You need to consult the DNC and the DTRIP so they can get it together. They're not even on the level of the ordinary rules. These are people that are talking outside of our democracy. They're ignoring the Constitution at this point. And you treat them accordingly. These are people that are talking outside of our democracy. They're ignoring the Constitution at this point. Right. And you treat them accordingly.

That's what you do. I agree. Those are people you can't necessarily work with. There are. No, you said not necessarily. You said, Amisha, you said not necessarily. No, you can't work with them. We're at a point where conservatives are eating their own. We're watching that happen live,

where you have state elected officials going against county elected officials, and this huge break between those who are Trumpisms and those who are not. And I think that for Joe Biden, this is a difficult space to play in. One, because there's still a high level of control from conservatives. So let's not pretend like there's a supermajority on the Hill of Democrats right now. There is not. There were some significant losses from the Democratic Party when it came to those congressional seats. We're still waiting to see what's going to happen with those two seats in Georgia for the Senate. There are some things that Democrats have to understand because we don't necessarily have the same type of playing game that Donald Trump did coming in

in 2016. He did have a lot more conservatives on his side and conservative control. We're not necessarily seeing that as Democrats right now. I think the part of that is the fact that Democrats haven't taken the bull by the horns. They have not been able to, by and large, adapt to some of the more progressive tones because of a fear that they would isolate certain white voters, which I think was an erroneous fear at best. But I do believe that for Joe Biden, that this may be somewhat of a challenge because he is very used to breaching across the aisle and trying to build those bridges.

When right now, hell, those bridges are blown up. That world's gone. I'm telling you right now, look, how many of y'all have seen the move of the equalizer, equalizer one and two? No. Y'all seen the equalizer? I'll check it, though. Lauren,all seen the equalizer? I haven't.

I'll check it, though. Lauren, you haven't seen the equalizer? What the hell wrong with you? I haven't seen it. What the hell wrong with you? Didn't say Washington. Antoine Fuqua directed. This is one of his signature moves in there.

When he get ready to kill people, he click his timer and see how fast he can kill everybody in the room. If I'm Joe Biden, come January 20th, I'm going to do this here. Click. Then I'm going to sit here and take everybody out. And what I love about Denzel that movie, he take folks out and then he look at him. He take him out and he look at him. That's what Democrats got to do. OK, you are going up against pure evil. You are going up against people who are sick and

demented, who do not believe in the rule of law. You must treat them accordingly. You cannot treat them with niceness. You cannot treat them with kindness. You cannot invite them over for tea and crumpets. You cannot say, come on by for coffee and drinks. What you must do is obliterate them. You must destroy them. You must rip their hearts out. You must steal. No, no, Andrew, because guess what? That's exactly what Mitch McConnell did to Obama when he only moved eight federal judges in 2016 when he blocked Merrick Garland for 10 months.

They don't give a damn about anything. And I'm saying, Democrats, damn this. Let's return to normalcy. No, that day is gone. It's time. What did I say three years ago? And what did I say this year? This means war.

We come back. I'm going to talk to you. Hold on one second. We come back. I'm going to talk to the Michigan legislator who's been getting death threats because she basically said the same thing to conservatives. Come after me. Y'all going to pay. We talk to her next on Roller Martin Unfiltered. Trump can show up and say anything and they can just go, oh, yeah, the African-American community was great to us. They didn't vote.

You know, he just called you stupid. Did you hear that? Oh, oh, oh, but he's for us. Really? And they were just regurgitating the things that they had heard on a radio or in the barbershop or something that somebody had told them. They hadn't thought about it. Democracy is, uh, in dangerous because people don't know how to think.

I'm done with trying to convince people to try to vote for their, you know, for their life. You have to run for your life. I'm gonna go try to get people who are open to it and lead them. I'm done with hope. Fuck hope. Bye. And I come to ask you to go all out. Just see what a power you can be.

Let us march on ballot boxes. That is to go out to vote. For this is the way we are going to straighten up the South and the nation. Let us march on ballot boxes until men and women will no longer walk the streets in search for jobs that do not exist. Walk together, children. Don't you get weary. One day, Georgia will be a better state.

This is our Georgia, where the ordinary accomplish the extraordinary. And a new American story was written. This is our Georgia. We don't wait for change. We are the change. We keep climbing to the mountaintop and always set another seat at the table of brotherhood. This is our Georgia.

We honor the sacrifices of the past, carry their work forward. Because democracy doesn't stand still. It must be protected. We honor the sacrifices of the past, carry their work forward. Because democracy doesn't stand still. It must be protected, fought for, practiced every day. Let us march on ballot boxes until brotherhood is more than a meaningless word at the end of a prayer. But the first order of business on every legislative agenda, let us march on ballot boxes. Every voice counts. Every vote counts.

Every voice. Every voice must be heard. Must be heard. This is my future. This is my Georgia. This is my Georgia. This is my Georgia. This is my Georgia.

How about you? Me too. Are you in? Are you in? We got power. We about to get ready to launch. We're about to get ready to launch. We're about to get ready to launch.

We're about to get ready to launch. We're about to get ready to launch. We're about to get ready to launch. We're about to get ready to launch. We're about to get ready to launch. We're about to get ready to launch. We're about to get ready to launch. We're about to get ready to launch.

We're about to get ready to launch. We're about to get ready to launch. We're about to get ready to launch. We're about to get ready to launch. We're about to get ready to launch. We're about to get ready to launch. We're about to get ready to launch. We're about to get ready to launch. We got power. We're about to get ready to launch our We Got Power Tour. Cliff and I are going on the blackest bus in America. We're hitting the streets again. We're going to be going through at least 12 states, maybe more.

I'm just really excited. Now, it's a little bit different this time because COVID-19, we've got to wear a mask, we've got to be socially distant, but we are very committed that we've got to get in the streets and inspire and encourage our people in ways that are socially distant. Ready to hit the road, ready to see our folks, ready to be socially distant, ready to mask up. On our way to Pennsylvania, we'll be there for two days and then we're headed to Ohio to Cleveland.

We're going to be just spreading a lot of love and building a lot of power. The very last day, we're going to be out here on the ground in these streets because our people need us. Can't stop, Won't stop. Register to vote. You can even request your online vote by mail ballot by clicking the link or by scanning our QR code with your camera. Vote early. Vote today because we got power. Crazy, deranged, demented, sadistic, evil Republicans have been targeting officials in Michigan. Well, one legislator in Michigan had enough, and she posted this on Facebook. So this is just a warning to you Trumpers. Man, roll it.

Walk lightly. We ain't playing with you. Enough of the shenanigans. Enough is enough. And for those of you who are soldiers, you know how to do it. Do it right. Be in order. Make them pay.

Well, that did not sit well with folks in Michigan. State Representative Cynthia Johnson has been stripped of her committee assignments, which include her position on the House Oversight Committee after posting that video to Facebook. She joins us right now. First and foremost, what did your fellow colleagues say?

Did they say that you were calling on folks to be killed? What did they say in stripping you of your assignments? Well, thank you, first of all, for inviting us onto your show. I never received a phone call from the Republicans, Speaker of the House House or in regards to why they were stripping me from my committees. And as they pretty much said, I talk too much and I should apologize.

Are you? Hell no. And why you're not going to apologize? I'm not going to apologize. I'm not a slave. Our people are not slaves. We belong. I'm not going to apologize because those words that I used, I meant them.

And I just don't understand why are we still here? I'm not going to apologize because those words that I used, I meant them. And I just don't understand why are we still here? I know why we're still here. Why are we still talking about this when the elections have already been certified? You know, this is about Trump. He needs to be tried with treason. I mean, you know, we have so many things that we have to do. I can't even really help my constituents. I have people reaching out to our office needing stimulus dollars.

I have people who are homeless. There was one resident of mine who was about to be evicted. I had to ask my staff, stop everything. Even though we were going through all of this, make sure this woman doesn't get evicted. have black businesses that are being disenfranchised. Yet we have to continue to go down this rabbit hole. This is crazy stuff. So no, I will not apologize for anything that I have said. My office has received over 7,000 emails. They can't even do their work. They can't even really help the constituents. And I want to say hats off to my staff, both Tanae Hankins and Abigail Plumperins. They have been amazing. Just wonderful. And enough really is enough. We're not putting up with this. We're not going to continue to put up with

the bullshit. Explain to my audience, you talk about those phone calls. Folks have been saying you should be lynched. You should be killed. What other stuff have they been saying? And did the Republican Speaker of the House address any of that? Offer you security? Offer your staff security? No, not one time. Not one time. But I'll tell you what, the FBI is very involved. My local authorities, local Detroit is very involved my local authorities local Detroit very involved

uh the Capitol Police very involved so but but as far as as uh the leadership is the Republican leadership not one time did they call to say what what can we do to help you? You know, they haven't even put out a statement. The only statement that they put out to say that all of those attacks on me are wrong, all of those attacks on you are racist, they're wrong, they shouldn't do it. They shouldn't talk about putting crosses on your grass. But you shouldn't have said what you said. I had the audacity, a black woman, I had the audacity to question white men and white women. How dare you question us, Miss Cynthia A. Johnson. Who do you

think you are? You're an uppity nigga. That's what I've been told. Do I care about whether or not what you think of me? I don't care what you think of me. But you're going to do right by my people. We're going to stop all this bullshit in the Democratic Party, the leadership.

And I don't know who was that person who said one thing about the Democratic Party is that they placate to white people. They do. The Democratic Party also placates because they're concerned about their constituents. How about this, everybody? How about we just all do the right thing for all of our constituents? How about if we put out a, how about we just take a stance against wrong how about that how about we just take a stance against domestic terrorism and domestic violence because this situation right here is very much like a domestic violence situation. How a woman, she says something and her husband or boyfriend doesn't like it.

He choke her and then say, you made me do it. Well, no, I'm not shutting up. And I'm just asking all of us to take pause. Take pause. We've got to work together. If we have never, ever worked together have any control over how you think my words may hurt you. Or if you are not sure about what the words are, why don't you ask me? But I didn't even find out until, what, two days ago, 2 o'clock in the morning. I didn't even find out why these people were losing their damn minds.

I didn't realize that that video that I had done was cut up and edited and added that we were after white people. This is crazy stuff. But, you know, who are we dealing with? We're dealing with the same people who are listening, who's listening to a president who have had babies snatched away from their parents. Some children right now, I bet you, we don't even know where they are. We have a president who have literally abducted children from their parents.

Here's a man who will lie on us 20, 30,000 times. A day, a minute maybe. But we have work to do. And this is not new. We all here, we know this is not new. But now we have the opportunity. We have the opportunity to come together and work collectively. And I am encouraging all of us to let's just work together with each other.

I think I meant to say, well, no, I'm done with that. Where are you? I can't even see your face. Oh, I'm in my studio. So you must be joining us. Yeah, you must be joining us via FaceTime. Yeah, so what we have is we have you routed through our control room. So yeah, you can't see me, but trust me, the audience can see you. They can see the both of us. So we're all good. So, well, look, we certainly appreciate you joining us. Keep giving them hell. Keep representing the constituents. And of course, and we'll keep doing what we're doing. That's been unapologetically black every single day.

Thank you. Thank you so much for having me. I love y'all. I appreciate it. Thank you so very much. All right, folks. Always covering different news left and right. I told you earlier we had the video, of course, of Susan Rice when she was announced today by Joe Biden to be the head of the White House Domestic Policy Council. Here's Congresswoman Marsha Fudge, her speech leading HUD. elect, my good friend, Madam Vice President Eilat, to my family, my friends, my sorority sisters, my constituents all, I thank you for the opportunity to join this remarkable team and work on behalf of people in every city and community to serve all those who are struggling and looking for the fair shot we all deserve.

When I think about the enormity of the task ahead of us, I am reminded of the book of Matthew, where it is written, Foxes have holes, birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head. There is dignity and there is grace within every woman, every man, and every child in this nation, including those who live on the outskirts of hope, those who work hard but still struggle to make it work, and those who have no place to lay their head. It is one of the highest responsibilities of our government to see them, to see their dignity, and to lift them up. I remember the feeling I had as a kid of the safety, security, and peace of mind contained

in one word, home. I remember the comfort of knowing that no matter what happened, I could always go home. But far too many Americans live without that feeling. More and more have had that comfort ripped away. The crisis of a pandemic that has threatened their lives. The crisis of a recession that has swallowed up jobs, hours, wages, and lifelines. The crisis of injustice that has forced communities of color to make it in America with one dream tied behind their back. Each crisis chips away at their hope, at the promise of our nation. But I believe that hope is on the way because I know that President-elect and Vice President-elect are building a team

that is grounded in dignity. And our task at the Department of Housing and Urban Development will be to stand up for the dignity of all Americans and deliver the promise of our nation to all those left out in the cold. We will take on the deep-set roots of poverty and homelessness. We will fight for housing in every community that is affordable, decent, and safe. We will help more Americans secure the dream of home ownership, to close the gaps of inequity, build wealth, and pass it on to their children. We will pursue creative development projects to shape our landscapes and skylines, restart the engines of cities that have stalled out, and launch new opportunities in hometowns across America. But perhaps most importantly of all, we will help people believe

once again that their government cares about them, no matter who they are, that we understand their problems, as the president-elect often recalls his father's words. I am honored to have this chance to help restore the people's faith, to deliver for them and make them proud, and to build back better alongside this dedicated team. I thank you for the opportunity to serve. Go to our panel here. Lauren, a lot of folks have been talking about President-elect Biden picking Tom Vilsack to be the Ag Court Secretary again. He served in that capacity for eight years.

Yes, he did. John Boyd with Black Farmers Association was on this show talking about what he did not do to help to help black farmers. Biden clearly ignored all of that in picking him again. Of course, he also fired Shirley Sherrod later, apologized for doing so over an edited video from from Breitbart. To me, look, here's the deal. Biden clearly is going with him. To me, I say use this moment to to to to lash into him and say, where are your black plan to to excise a major, major black plan out of USDA and give him nothing but hell the moment he steps in. Yeah. And I think the fact that you have Congresswoman Fudge right now going to HUD and you have Congressman Cedric Richmond in the White House, hopefully going to the 7 a.m.

meeting is a really important thing because they should be in communication with each other. I'm not in any way trying to sort of downplay the importance of the Department of Housing and Urban Development with regard to Congresswoman Fudge taking over. I think it's great that she's doing that because she's very centered around the least of these and looking out for the people who a person like Ben Carson could care less about and talk nothing about. And she will focus on homelessness and those issues. There's no doubt about it. But that budget in that department at HUD is $47 billion. The budget at the agriculture department is $146 billion. That matters. And to find Tom Vilsack back there is unbelievably crazy to me. I mean,

I know that this is like the third. I know that they don't want to want to talk about this, but this is really actually the third, you know, Obama presidency because the third term, because we keep seeing his people pop up and now we're hearing about Patrick Gaspard going to labor. I think that it definitely matters which department, you know, which person gets. It's not just a numbers game of let's see how many black people get there. In my view for African-Americans, the three most important departments are DOJ and AG and help me roll in to J. Ag and defense. Well, you know, defense is great.

Defense is good because of that huge budget. I'm not trying to say it's not. But I had a third one in mind that for some reason I'm having a senior moment, not able to. Education, not education, not commerce. It was another money. HHS. Treasury. And Treasury's got the guy, the second, the deputy, he's Nigerian.

But my point is, I want the money department. I'm focused on the money departments. I'm focused on having somebody at the top of those departments who centers poverty in a country where one out of every seven Americans is in poverty and 28 percent of African-Americans are in poverty. And there's this sort of idea that nobody black can be a treasury or nobody black can be at at at ag. It's like there's certain departments that no one black can ever be at. But the Austin thing at DOD, your point is well taken, Roland. That is a big thing. That is not a minor thing at all. But as far as Rep Fudge is concerned, I think it would have been a hell of a lot more powerful to see her at at. I think I think Biden is trying to appease someone in there. It's

probably could be could be his former boss, could be President Obama. But because we keep seeing his people pop up, I mean, McDonough and Vets Affairs, which makes no sense. People who have no expertise in that field. Like, remember, the argument against Fudge at Ag was, oh, she doesn't have the expertise at Ag. Well, then we see Gaspard and McDonough at Vets of Air, so that doesn't really make sense to me. So anyway, I just, it's not a terrible thing, but it's going to be interesting to see how this plays out

with regard to specific policies. Again, I just think that Amisha, bottom line is this here. Look, Biden's going to pick who he picks, but our job is to go after every single one with our agenda. Exactly. I agree 100%. I don't think that, I think it's futile to have an argument about his picks at this point,

and we still have several that are outstanding that I would argue are very strong, and I still want to see some African-American at the top of those. But I feel like at this point we have to be very, very strategic about our list of demands as black people. We have to make sure that our agenda, regardless of if the person who is the head of these agencies is black or white, has the black agenda in front of them and that we hold them accountable for it. We have to make sure that the Biden administration understands not only that we got them there because Black people did. That's why he is going to be inaugurated. We also have to make sure that we aren't just sitting around cheering as we did

four years ago, well, eight years ago and four years prior to that, making sure that our demands are heard, that our voices are heard, and that we have strategic agenda plans not only for urban areas, but also for rural areas where Blacks happen to live, not only for our northern cities and midwestern areas, but also for those across the South. Black people are not a monolith, and there are different things that Black people want depending on where they live and the different burdens that they face across the nation. And I think that we have to be strategic in making those, making our voices heard, but also have a plan of action. It should not just be that we want this black person in that seat because hell, we saw black people in certain, in certain agency positions during the George W. Bush administration. We saw them during the

Clinton administration. And to be honest, a lot of the black condition didn't increase in either one of those administrations. So we have to make sure that the policy meets us where we are and that we are being intuitive in what we are demanding from these individuals. Yeah. Go right ahead, Andrew. Yeah, I mean, absolutely. I think one thing that's being lost in this is the toll on education. So many of our students, we know when schools open up, they're not opening up in our communities. A lot of our students, according to a McKinsey study, white kids are already three months behind in math. Black kids are six months behind. So we're not talking about this lost generation of students that, in many cases, are having to learn virtually. You know, daycare centers, in many cases, are still closed, so parents don't have the coverage.

Women and other caregivers and parents, fathers are having to make difficult decisions about who's going to stay home with the kids. You know, it's going to have an impact. And, you know, I think what I would like to see with some of these picks is just more of a story and a narrative. So much is on fire in terms of the federal government right now. Like, where are you going to put out the fires first beyond COVID? Folks, talk about, all emphasis, obviously, we talk about what's happening on the federal level. Obviously, we have a new president coming in, folks, but it's also important what's happening in our cities and in Baltimore. They have a new mayor coming in, dealing with, after the disastrous administration of the previous mayor, who is actually now sitting

in federal prison. Brandon Scott became Baltimore City's 52nd mayor, doing Tuesday's inaugural ceremony. The 36-year-old pledged to tackle Baltimore's gun violence, the rising number of COVID-19 cases, and the city's eviction crisis. He joins us right now. Mayor, how you doing? I'm good, brother. I'm good. Good to see you. It's been a long time.

I got to start here. I had somebody who I saw a tweet. They said he has got to have the best fro in all of politics in America. Well, I would agree. I would agree. The pro fade is back. Well, look, I know somebody out there watching. They'd be like, yo, Roland, seriously. You know, you want to open up with the mayor asking about his hair. But but here's the piece. I remember when Reverend Jackson was running for president, Ron Walters, Dr. Ron Walters said, Jesse, if you cut your hair anymore, you're going to be bald. And the reality is black politicians have always had to adjust who they are and adjust themselves in terms of hair, in terms of clothes, in terms of all of those things to make themselves more palatable to white business leaders and to white voters as well.

And so you being 36 and the hairstyle you have is making a statement unto itself. Yeah, listen, I do this because, Roland, I heard this my whole life. I used to have braids, and when I was in college and I heard, you got to cut it if you want to be successful, especially if you want to go into politics. You got to cut it. And what I did is I'll do things my way, right? My hair, my hair is not who I am.

My hair is just a part of me. And I do this for the young people. One of the first things I did the other day after getting sworn in was talk to some students. And I had a young man ask me, will I ever cut my hair? And I said, if I want to, but never let anyone tell you to do something with your hair because you can wear your black natural hair anywhere you want. I've gotten to this point, Roland, without giving into myself and who I am. This was the same thing when we talked before, when I wore a Colin Kaepernick jersey on the

council floor. People thought I had lost my mind. I said, no, I am very sane in my mind. I am going to be me. I am proud of who I am. I am proud of my heritage. And you will respect me for who I am and my capabilities and not judge me on something so trivial like hair. William, we talk about the issues Baltimore is facing. You're dealing with housing. You're dealing with crime. But I dare say the most important thing you got to deal with is trust.

To have a mayor go to prison for getting, reaping hundreds of thousands of dollars in books that were never published. And then you had another previous mayor, not the one before her, but another previous mayor who had to resign for the misuse of gift cards as well. I mean, so you got people there. You got people in the city who are saying, man, can we trust leaders not to be corrupt? Can we have them looking out for the interest of the citizens and not their own pocketbook? Yeah. And I think I know coming into this, that this is going to be something that I have to focus on rebuilding trust. But let me also be very clear, Roland. That's why the

citizens of Baltimore elected me. They elected me because they've seen me grow up before their eyes. They know that I grew up in a neighborhood in Baltimore in Park Heights where the world descends on it for a Preakness horse race. And every other day of the year, I wasn't even seen as human by my own city government, where I saw my first shooting before my 10th birthday. They know that they've seen me grow up and be a councilperson, be the council president, lead the largest anti-violence movement on the ground here in Baltimore called 300 Men March. But also they've seen me be the person challenging the status quo, leading the council as we

close those healthy holly loopholes, being the person that passed Baltimore's open data law, being someone that's always transparent, and being that person that they see, that they see in the community, that they see coaching their kids basketball and youth football games, that they know does not care about money. They know that the business interests that have been influencing some of those mayors in the past and the things that happened with Mayor Pugh, they don't like me, because I will always do what's right, even when it's not popular for me or popular for inner citizens. What's right for Baltimore is what I will do, just like yesterday when I announced those new restrictions, I mean, Wednesday when I announced those new restrictions. It's because I am about making Baltimore better.

I could care less about how people think about what am I doing for myself. It's not about me. It's about the city that gave me the opportunity and my family the opportunity moving from the rural South as a first generation Baltimorean to build Baltimore better for the generations to come, especially for black Baltimoreans. You had Donald Trump eviscerating Baltimore, trashing then Congressman Elijah Cummings, and of course Cummings took that personally. You had this Republican woman who ran against Kweisi Mfume, again saying the same thing, saying it's corrupt and the trash in the city. And that's one of the things that, I mean, as somebody whose parents were community activists, I mean, literally, you know, in our neighborhood, who started with cleaning up streets and tearing down empty houses and overgrown lots and cleaning up trash,

all of that goes to, you know, how a city looks. And so, you know, what is your initial plan? I mean, obviously you got big plans you want to have, but you're also looking at something along those lines saying, hey, let's deal with how we look and then focus on a citywide, you know, cleanup plan and focusing on, you know on how do we take these abandoned buildings and these empty homes and turn it into affordable housing? What exactly are your plans for the first six months, first year? Well, listen, Roland, I want everyone to hear me very clear. I am coming into a city government that is completely broken we're

talking about this is 2020 almost 2021 and our city government is still operating like it's 1999. we're behind we have to build systems what i am talking about this term for the long term rolling is about foundational work we have to build the foundation for how we can be the best version of ourselves. You don't go from being 0-16 to winning the Super Bowl the next year. But this is how you attack that from both a long-term and a short-term point of view. Before we had this recent surge in COVID, again, leading by example, I myself have been leading a group of volunteers every weekend going into the most dirtiest neighborhoods where the dumping has happened, where the mistrash is happening, to do it and clean it up myself in partnership with our Department of Public Works. We're going to continue to do those kind of things when it is safe for us to do them. Also, we're doing the basic things of restarting the recycling collection that was ended here in the city of Baltimore, making sure that we're modernizing our trash collection, going towards zero waste.

Because in a major city like Baltimore, it's unacceptable that in 2020 we don't have GPS route makers for our solid waste workers. We have to put those things in place so that we can do those simple things for the citizens. When you talk about affordable housing and our vacants, it's about making sure that we are getting those properties out of the hands of these slumlords and folks who have held on to them for decades and decades, getting them into the hands of either the city or people who want to build, renovate them, knock them down, build new affordable housing, expanding on the work that we've done with this new plan. We actually, when I was on the council, we passed a $20 million increase to our affordable housing trust fund. Now we're at the implementation station. What we will do in Baltimore, the birthplace of inequity legislation, is lead by enforcing my equity law that I passed and making sure that we're doing

those investments in the neighborhoods that have been left behind on purpose, doing that intentionally building them up from a housing standpoint, from a health standpoint, making sure the city is spending its money there so that we can see how we're going to bring those neighborhoods back. Question from my panelist, who with us, Amisha and Lauren Victoria Burke. I'll start with Amisha Cross first. Amisha, your question for the mayor of Baltimore.

Absolutely. First off, congratulations. I think that the issue of trust is one that is very paramount. Obviously, you're one of the youngest mayors that Baltimore has ever seen. I think that with that comes its own power and strengths, but it also comes with sometimes some downsides as well. In terms of the anticipation of building up the economy, making sure that, you know, post-COVID-19, there are people who have faith in the health care system in Baltimore and all of the issues with the education system. What are some of your top priorities and how do you plan on

actually making sure that you're not someone who has all the protesters out in the street in the next few months as well? Because there's a lot that needs to happen in Baltimore and the stakes are really high. Yeah, thank you for that question, Amisha. And I think it's funny, I was laughing because I know Roland saw some of my competitors during the general election, and they were pointing out the fact that I was actually out with the protesters. And I think that's the critical thing. When I've been a part of that, I was an activist here. I led protests in Baltimore City. I actually led a march from Baltimore to D.C. where we walked and did a protest, right? So having those relationships where people can trust us, if you look at my transition committee, it is the most diverse that people have ever seen, because I'm putting activists in the room with business leaders and forcing them to work out those issues. But when you think about education, for example, in Baltimore, we're talking about

Maryland, the wealthiest state and the wealthiest country in the history of the world, and our state has never fully funded our schools. For example, here in Baltimore alone, we know, according to the state, they owe us $300 million a year. We have the biggest policy decision in our state facing us when our General Assembly comes back, and that's overriding our governor's short-sighted veto of the blueprint for Maryland's future that will put hundreds of millions of dollars into our school system and billions of dollars into school system across Maryland. Being there to help make sure that that is overridden is one of the top priorities for us because we cannot properly educate our young people

for the 21st century if we are not fully funding our schools. When you think about the business community, and this is what I've tasked my folks with understanding of how we want to operate, our city has been a city that is only focused on trying to get the big fish, the next shiny business that's going to come in and save us. When we know in our heart of hearts, and if you look at economic data from across the world and across the country, where you get your job and economic growth is supporting the small and medium-sized businesses that you have here. And in Baltimore, that specifically has generations have not had the opportunities that their counterparts had, we will start to make those investments so that we know that people who own and operate these businesses are hiring people from our community, providing opportunities

for those reentering in our community, and making sure that we're synchronizing with our education system in an equitable way to move forward. Vaughn Victoria Burke. I wonder, Mayor Scott, I want to talk to you. You know, when I go to major cities, I'm from New York, and I spend a little bit of time in Richmond, Virginia, a little bit of time in Brooklyn, and I go through Baltimore frequently for this and that. I just wonder what your plan is or what your thoughts are. How do these cities, particularly a city like Baltimore, how do you turn around neighborhoods that are kind of, you know, have the abandoned properties, abandoned storefronts? It almost feels like it's so entrenched in so many of these cities. And what's your view of what can turn that

around? Is it private-public partnership? Is it an investment from the government? What are your thoughts on that? I think it's a mixture of all of the above, right? We have a program here of Vacants to Value that has been successful, but like many things, it has not been updated and changed since its inception in 2010, and now we're in 2020. When you think about Baltimore, you think about it as a city of 600,000 people or a little less, right? But we have housing stock for a million.

We have so many of those vacant properties, many of it which are never going to be habitable again. It's a mixture. We have to, again, and this is where the partnership comes in, because when you have blocks of houses, if there's ten houses on one block and five of them are owned by the same person and we're trying to go through our court system at the state to get them in receivership, we shouldn't have to go five different times. We should be able to do that all at once so that we can get that in the hands of someone.

We have had partnership with our state through Project CORE and other things to get demolition money. We need more of that. As we go into a new federal administration, we're going to be talking with our federal delegation, Senator Cardin, Senator Van Hollen, to make sure that they understand we need the federal government, HUD, and other folks to be a part of that, because this is about not just building a new Baltimore, as they've been trying to do, and build it for people that are not here and definitely do not look like us,

but this is also about making sure that we are providing that opportunity. And this is where the equity portion comes in. We see some of that work, and there's great work going on here in Baltimore. If you go to East Baltimore, where they filmed The Wire, they are now selling houses for $225,000, $250,000 in a neighborhood where you could get a house for $7,000, $8,000 when I was 20, 25 years old. But that has to be expanded upon. They have great work happening in the Johnson Square neighborhood where they are now taking people, community-based supportive development, where they are taking people who are renting in a city where they are renting $1,200, $1,300 and putting them into home ownership where

they pay $800, $900. And think about the opportunity for Baltimore, our proximity to D.C. When you think about the MARC station that we have in West Baltimore, think about that access where we could actually build up and support black neighborhoods, getting black folks here, black folks who are coming from other places like D.C. to Baltimore. We have to do that in a very concentrated way, but it's going to take partnership, city, state, federal, and private folks to be a part of that. Some of that work is beginning,

but you need a mayor that really wants to invest in it and not let folks dictate that only investment can happen in areas around the border or only happen in white neighborhoods. It can and will happen in our neighborhoods as well. Mayor Brandon Scott, we certainly appreciate it, sir. Thank you so very much. Certainly look forward to having you back on the show.

Let me know anytime you want to come on. And then also hopefully with this COVID stuff, we look forward to going down the street and doing Roland Martin Unfiltered from Baltimore. So keep us abreast of the good things happening there. And we certainly will let our folks know what's going on. All right. You will do. And please stay safe, everybody.

Thank you. Indeed. We appreciate it. Thank you so very much. That's the mayor of Baltimore, Brandon Scott. All right, y'all. Man, sad story here. Another Brandon, 40-year-old Brandon Bernard, was executed last night by lethal injection.

The federal penitentiary in Terri Hart, Indiana. Bernard was pronounced dead at 9.27 p.m. He was the youngest person in the United States to receive a death sentence in nearly 70 years after he was convicted for his involvement in the murder of a couple in Central Texas. Despite several valiant attempts to stay the execution, Bernard became the ninth person to die on death row since Donald Trump restarted capital punishment in July. Seventeen years had passed before that took place. 17 years.

But Trump wants to kill as many people as possible before he leaves. There are five more inmates scheduled to be executed before inauguration. Also keep in mind, five of the nine jurors that convicted him said he deserved, he deserved to not be executed that's what happens there folks we've been covering the Georgia Senate race and while we were in Georgia in the past week with an opportunity to catch up with John Ossoff who was challenging David Perdue for one of those two positions of John Ossoff run against Perdue you have of course Raphael Warnock running against Kelly Loeffler. Here is my interview with candidate John Ossoff.

John Ossoff, these drive-in rallies are not necessarily how politicians want to campaign, but you've got to make do in this situation. Yeah, we have to build energy and inspire turnout while also protecting public health. And we have to set a good example. This is a dangerous time for public health across the country and here in Georgia. And so we're energizing people with our message of health, jobs, and justice. And inspiring people out to the polls while also making sure that we're looking out for people's health. Which is a stark contrast from the rallies that we see led by Trump and Pence and Republicans. They're crowding people into enclosed spaces without masks.

They're showing no regard for public health, just as they haven't all year. It's like this macho thing, almost, you know, that wearing a mask, keeping distance, following CDC guidelines has become this sort of cultural flashpoint. And this is why we need new leaders in this country who will unite the people to do basic things like follow public health advice. Just yesterday, Georgia hit a record number of COVID cases. Yeah, look, the virus is spreading out of control across the country. This is the consequence when politicians ignore, suppress, and disregard scientific expertise. It's the same thing that's happening with the environment, where you've got

politicians funded by the oil and gas industry who have been suppressing climate science for decades. What we've seen with COVID-19 in America this year is politicians who have been suppressing epidemiologists, infectious disease science. As you know, Roland, we have here in Georgia the CDC, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. They were sounding the alarm in February, but politicians were suppressing those voices, and that's one of the reasons that this is so out of control now. When it comes to issues of policy,

obviously both protection is a huge issue, health care is a huge issue as well, but one of the things that we've been focused on is also economics and that is you know what Maynard Jackson was able to do, Andrew Young, all the subsequent black members of Atlanta really created this economic engine for African Americans. 73 black people are getting.001% of all city contracts in Atlanta. And you have Kelly Leffer, who is now running ads featuring a Republican black businesswoman. Yet, I actually went on her website trying to find out exactly what is her plan for black and minority owned businesses, and I've actually yet to see it. For you, what is that plan? Because that is going to be a critical issue. We're talking about shrinking the wealth gap in this country as we move forward to 2043 when America becomes a nation without a people's color. We need to be about building generational wealth in the black community and in black families.

Working people in America, and especially working class black and brown people in America, are forced onto this treadmill of financial precariousness and debt, never able to get ahead of the bills, never able to invest, never able to take equity in a home or put money away in a 401k because the rent, the car payment, the prescriptions, and education exceed what can be brought in. This is why we need to create the opportunities for people to make a living wage, raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour, and ensure that when we make this investment in economic recovery, which we must right now, infrastructure and jobs program, that every community can participate equitably in it.

I'll send you a photo of me campaigning for Maynard Jackson when I was about four years old. And you're absolutely right that what Maynard Jackson did is he said, OK, we have a majority black city, but the black community is not participating in this incredible engine of economic growth. He made sure that black folks in Georgia could participate in the city of Atlanta's growth and in the wealth that it created. And that is the challenge that we have as a nation, because centuries after the establishment of shadow slavery here and decades after the end of segregation and Jim Crow, we still have a huge gap in economic power,

access to capital, and access to the ability to create and sustain wealth over generations. I also happen to connect with the people. I looked at the analysis of Metro Atlanta. 100,000 people voted for Joe Biden against Donald Trump. They skipped your race against David Perdue. how are you specifically connecting with African Americans to get them to understand who you are, what you're about, so they are voting for you and not repeat what happened on November 3rd? Well, let me say first of all that what we saw on November 3rd was record-shattering black turnout in Georgia.

And there was a little bit of drop-off from the top of the ballot, but it was still more votes cast than have ever been cast for any Georgia Democrat in history. So we had record-shattering turnout. We have to exceed it. And when I worked for Congressman Lewis, he taught me to believe in the power of the people to fight for justice. And the movement that we're building in Georgia right now, because it is a movement, led by

a black pastor who holds the same pulpit Dr. King did, Stacey Abrams, Lucy McBath, a young Jewish journalist, son of an immigrant, is a movement for health and jobs and justice for the people. That means affordable health care for every family. That means investment in economic recovery that Georgia's black community can meaningfully participate in. And that means criminal justice reform through a new Civil Rights Act to make equal justice under the law real in this country. And I believe that that's a message with which we can build a multiracial coalition

and we can turn on its head and end the old Republican Southern strategy. When they lengthen my nose in their ads, when they run these racist ads, they're running against the Reverend. They're running a playbook they've run here since the early 1970s to divide people along racial lines. We're creating solidarity across racial lines by making sure that everybody understands that health and jobs and justice are for everybody and must be for everybody. This is a unique situation, first of all, that we signed a post-op, one-off, one-off, post-op. Typically when folks are running, they're running their own campaign. Y'all really are having to run a dual campaign because obviously a Democrat needs to win both seats in order to be able to control the United States Senate. And so that's a lot different than what we normally see in campaigns.

Thank y'all for being patient. It is, but it's even more exciting, even more energizing, even more electrifying than any head-to-head race could be. Because this race is not about David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler. Even Republicans don't like David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler. Even Republicans don't like David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler. Everybody knows that they've been using their offices to enrich themselves and lying about it. This race is about our limitless potential as a people

and how Georgia represents that hope, This race is about our limitless potential as a people and how Georgia represents that hope. That if we're gonna make this country what this country can become, we have to win these two Senate races. If Joe and Kamala are gonna be able to get things done, we have to win these two Senate races. If we are gonna have health and jobs and justice for the people,

and that's not just a slogan. That means health. That means health care as a human right. That means jobs for all people that pay a living wage. That means true criminal justice reform. If we're going to pass that legislative agenda, we have to win these two Senate races. I have the owner of

Slutty Vegan on my show. Pinky. We have Pinky on. And she said it was an insult for the Purdue campaign to attack you coming by her restaurant. You were there to support small business Saturday. And she said, look, here we are. She said, you know, we

are business. We employ people. And she said that ticked off a lot of black folks in Atlanta who were hugely supportive of the restaurant. And then for him to say, Georgia, take a pic, as if it was between beef or plant-based, but that really also was attack on a black-owned business. David Perdue doesn't care about black people.

David Perdue attacking a black-owned business like that to score some kind of cheap political points. David Perdue will never utter the words Black Lives Matter. David Perdue was funded by the private prison industry. If it were 1964, 1965, and David Perdue were in the Senate, he would be filibustering the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act. David Perdue's got to go. Last question. There's somebody out there, and we talked about this when uh joe biden was here they have not they don't know what they want to do they don't know if they want to be able to vote

they're not quite sure they say well i don't really know him i'm not quite sure uh you can look at that camera right there make the case to that vote that young voter that older voter that african voter that white voter that republican Republican voter, why they should cast that ballot for you come January 15th? Sure. Well, look, December 14th is the first day of early voting. And this isn't about Democrats versus Republicans. We've got two incumbent senators in Georgia who have been using their offices to enrich themselves while they hold up economic relief for ordinary people. If we're going to pass direct financial relief for ordinary people. If we're gonna pass direct financial relief

for families and businesses, if we're gonna empower health experts to contain the spread of this virus, if we're gonna invest in infrastructure and jobs and pass a new Civil Rights Act, we gotta get out and vote and win these two Senate races. And this is not about partisan politics. It's about human rights.

It's about health. It's about jobs. It's about justice. I appreciate you having me. John, what's up? I appreciate it. Thanks so much. Thank you. All right, thank. Thank you so much. Thanks a lot. All right. Thank you. Thank you. All right, folks. Just a couple of things here tomorrow. A lot of things happening on tomorrow in Georgia, folks. Remember, early voting starts on Monday, starts on Monday.

Amisha, Lauren, what we're about to see again, the intensity pickup in the streets out here for what's going on on the campaign trail. This is what's happening, taking place on. Go right to this is Saturday. It's a Saturday. The folks at Black Voters Matter, they are having at three to five tomorrow in Macon, Georgia, the Harriet Tubman Museum. They're having their tailgate Christmas concert. That's tomorrow on Sunday in Columbus at the Columbus Civic Center. They're also having a concert there as well. Early vote tailgate at the Columbus Civic Center. That's taking place from one to three p.m. Black of course, Roller Martin Unfiltered. We're going to be live streaming both of those events. Also, 5.30 tomorrow in Albany, Georgia. Reverend Warnock is going to be having a campaign event. I'm going to be there. I'll be in Albany,

5.30 tomorrow for that particular event. And also, Teresa Lundy sent me this here. I'm going to show it for a second. Tomorrow at 1 p.m. in Albany, I wish they had sent me this earlier. We would have been there in time. We're going to get there actually after the fact. But the black bikers are having their event in Albany tomorrow. They are going to be wide open. They're going to be, of course, encouraging people, really encouraging them to vote beginning on Monday. It's going to be taking place tomorrow in Albany. It says kickstands up at 1 p.m.

Leaving from the cafe there in Albany. And this is going to be this is going to be really critical, Amisha, getting those rural places in Georgia. Yesterday, we had hit strategies as well as higher heights in their survey. Black rural women, black women are focused, hyper-focused on voting in Georgia, but black rural women, not as much. And so the campaigns, they really are going to have to go after these rural voters because that could very well, 5, 10, 20,000 votes could very well be the difference between Ossoff and Warnock beating Loeffler and Perdue in Georgia. No, you're absolutely correct. And because there are so many rural counties across Georgia,

I think that one of the things that the Democrats have often have often to their own detriment left out is thinking when they think rural, they think white people as if black people don't live in rural areas and where you don't touch, where you don't reach out, you don't see any fruits. You don't see anything happen. Those people don't turn out because nobody speaks to them. I think that at this point, you know, we are at a flashpoint in American history where these people can no longer be forgotten. They have to be inclusive. There has to be outreach to them. There has to be dedicated motivation towards pushing them to vote and recognizing this, particularly in Georgia right now. The time is where we're up against the wall here. You have to make those efforts right now.

And that Georgia is more than Atlanta in the surrounding area. So I think that, you know, this is a very important time for organizations, black led organizations as well. I love what the bikers are doing. I love what some of these other organizations are doing and putting a spotlight on areas that aren't within a rock throw of Atlanta. Look, you got to go outside of Atlanta, Lauren. And again, those rural votes are going to absolutely matter. Yeah, and I'm sure they will go outside of Atlanta. I'm sure that the GOTV campaign is all over the place. Frankly, I don't know how they're doing it. We're having this COVID spike at the same time. It's a real challenge to be doing that work in this situation, but I'm sure that they're doing it somehow. It's going to be interesting to see

how the turnout is, because any special election, the turnout question is always really difficult to answer. But this is a really, obviously, it's a huge moment. It's about control of the U.S. Senate, and it's about effectively giving Joseph Biden, President-elect Joseph Biden, the chance to actually govern. Again, folks, so this weekend, folks, look for us to livestream 3 to 5 from Macon, Georgia, Black Voters Matter, from 5 at 5.30,

the Warnock event taking place in Albany, Georgia. Then on Sunday, we'll be Macon, Georgia. Black Voters Matter from five at 530. The Warnock event taking place in Albany, Georgia. Then on Sunday, we'll be in Columbus, Georgia with Black Voters Matter live streaming that event as well right here. And so you follow us on YouTube, Facebook, Periscope. And don't forget, Monday, first day of early voting, we're going to be going around doing interviews there. Tuesday, Joe Biden comes to town to campaign for John Ossoff and Raphael Warnock. We will be there on the ground showcasing you that as well. And so this is why we created this platform. We're not about sitting here waiting on mainstream media to cover our stuff.

We can do it ourselves. And so we want you to support us in what we do. Every dollar that you've given to us has been hugely beneficial to be able to cover the kind of stuff that we're talking about. That's why we want you to support us by joining our Bring the Funk fan club. Go to our cash shop, dollar sign RM Unfiltered, paypal.me forward slash rmartinunfiltered, venmo.com forward slash rmunfiltered. I need to have Kenyon add Zell to this. The Zell email is roland at rolandsmartin.com. You can send a money order to New Vision Media, NU, Vision Media, Inc., 1625 K Street, Northwest, Suite 400, Washington, D.C., 2006. And so we certainly thank all the folks who support us in what we do.

Lauren, thank you very much. Amisha, thank you so much. Andrew Lepp early. We thank him as well. Folks, that is it for us. But before we go, my apologies, folks. Of course, we do have one last story in memoriam. Of course, Tiny Lister.

Of course, many of us remember him from being in the movie Friday and so many others was found dead in his home yesterday at the age of 62. According to Lister's manager, Cindy Cowan, deputies arrived at the 62-year-old's Los Angeles apartment for a welfare check. Upon arrival, they found Lister unresponsive. Cowan says Lister was experiencing COVID symptoms. However, at this time, an official cause of death has not been determined. He started his career as a pro wrestler and then went on to become best known for his role as Deebo in the Friday film franchise. He also played the role of President Lindbergh in The Fifth Element.

And he played Adam Sandler's brother in the film Little Nicky. Lister leaves behind his wife, Felicia Forbes, and their daughter, Faith. I had an opportunity to meet Tiny on so many different occasions. He was a great brother. You see the Debo character. He always used that one to scare folks, especially little kids. But he really, really was a gentle

giant. And we certainly are going to miss his presence. And so we pay our respects to Tiny Lister. So we always end our show. That's it for us. We always end our show on Friday showing members of our Bring the Funk fan club. So we're going to close it out doing that way as well.

I will see you tomorrow from Georgia. And then, of course, tomorrow is Sunday. And then Roller Mart Unfiltered on Monday where we keep it real, keep it unapologetic, keep it unfiltered because we keep it black Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Martin! Thank you. I always had to be so good no one could ignore me. Carve my path with data and drive. But some people only see who I am on paper. The paper ceiling. The limitations from degree screens to stereotypes that are holding back over 70 million stars. Workers skilled through alternative routes rather than a bachelor's degree. It's time for skills to speak for themselves. Find resources for breaking through barriers

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